Disgaea: Dawn of a new Darkness
by sagitarius
Summary: Uzumaki Kushina: Member of the Uzumaki clan, wife of Namikaze Minato, mother of Uzumaki Naruto and second jinchuuriki of the Kyubi no yoko. But what if she was more? What would it mean for Naruto if she was an overlord's long lost daughter? NarutoXharem.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, for those who read my other story 'The wild horse mage knight', I know I should be focusing on finishing up edits on the next chapter for that, but after seeing the first Disgaea-Naruto crossover that I actually liked, along with the challenge from its author, I couldn't resist writing this. For everyone else, please enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: Would I honestly be writing this if I owned either of the above mentioned series? Answer: yes, I would, mostly because my original plans probably wouldn't have made it to the rest of the world because of the idiotic censors that people in the merchandising business seem to enjoy so much. But I still don't own the series.

**Chapter I: Rescue**

A place darker than a pitch-black cave… located deeper than the depths of the seas. … It is a place where evil reigns and foul beings dwell. … Nobody knows its whereabouts. …But everyone fears its existence. … This is the world of demons. … This is the world of Disgaea.

-X-

Deep in the bowels of one of the thousands of netherworlds, a dark castle stood atop the edgeof a cliff. Whereas a normal castle would be surrounded by a moat of water, this one was enclosed by a sea of boiling rock. The blaze of the lava casting an eerie glow on the already sinister structure.

On the outer grounds of the castle, the noise of different demons of all kinds, humanoid or not, caused an incomprehensible racket, as the denizens of hell went about their normal business with a cheerfulness that only a true demon could appreciate. Inside the castle though, things were much different, especially for a certain demoness.

On top of one of the castle towers sat a feminine figure. At a glance, one could easily mistake her for a regular woman in her twenties if they were to look at her from the wrong angle. The only things that identified her as a demon was her long, thin, spade-tipped tail and the large bat-like wings on her back, both very similar to those of the succubi race.

The woman was sitting with her legs hugged towards her chest, her leathery wings wrapped around her form, giving the illusion of a coat. Her eyes were downcast, turned towards her knees, but the glazed look upon them showed that her attention was elsewhere. A deep frown played upon her lips as an aura of depression flowed from what would normally be a very chipper and sadistic person, just as her dark pink hair flowed in the surprisingly cold breeze of hell.

To most of those that knew of her - which was more or less all those in her home netherworld - this sight would have come as a great surprise. After all, as far as most demons knew, Etna Krichevskoy was not one to be easily depressed. And yet, here she sat, silently gazing below at the demons under her mate and former master's rule, her eyes watering up as she was slowly but surely being reduced to tears.

"Where could you be… Mira?" she whispered, barely audible to even herself, but still breaking the silence that had enshrouded her. Nothing more was said after that though, as the sound of a woman in tears soon took the place of the howling winds.

She continued to sob into her knees as she sat on the tower, uninterrupted for who knew how long. It was only when she had almost no more tears to shed that someone else joined her.

The tapping sound made as a second woman landed on the roof was not missed by the black clad demoness, but she chose not to react. Even in her downtrodden state she could still tell with great ease who had decided to join her on the roof. Instead, she simply wipe her eyes as her new guest joined her.

The second demon was similar to Etna in many ways as far as appearances went: sharper than normal fangs, large, leathery, bat-like wings and a long tail with an arrowhead for a tip, the only difference being the red coloration of said two appendages as opposed to the younger demoness' own black ones. Her platinum blonde hair was comparatively longer, though.

Without a word, the blonde sat beside the pinkette, her legs dangling from the edge of the huge stone structure. No words were exchanged as they both simply stared below at the bustlingdemon settlement at the foot of the castle.

Finally, the red winged woman decided to speak.

"That time of year again, huh?" she asked, her sympathy clearly present in her voice.

She received a glare in response. "What do you want Flonne?" completely ignoring the fallen angel's inquiry, the pinkette snapped back angrily, her voice hoarse from crying.

Flonne sighed in response. Clearly, getting Etna out of this depression would not be easy. _"Not that getting her out of it last time was any easier… or all the other times before that for that matter,"_ she thought dejectedly.

"Look, Etna… I can't say I know how you feel…" Flonne started, stopping for just a minute to find the right words. Etna however, didn't give her a chance to say more.

"Of course you don't!" she stood up and yelled, her throat hurting. But she didn't care about that. "Of course you don't know how I feel! It wasn't your daughter that was kidnapped, it wasn't your daughter that went missing for twenty seven years! It was mine!"

Just like a match, Etna went from a black and cold depression to a red and fiery rage, the pain in her throat completely forgotten as she focused her grief-fueled anger upon the red-eyed woman.

"You don't know what it feels like to lose someone you cared for so much that you would die for them! You don't know how it feels to know that you may never see your child again!" by now her tears had come back at full force as the black winged demoness fell to her knees, glaring at the ground as best she could while her tears kept falling. "I failed, Flonne. … I only had her for a month, and I already loved her, but… but I couldn't even protect her… and from humans, no less."

And once more, just like a match, what once was a fiery rage, with the slightest breeze, was reduced to a burnt out mess.

Flonne's heart clenched at the sight. Here was one of the strongest people she knew. The person she had come to see as a sister. The proud demoness everyone in this netherworld, and many in others had come to fear: reduced to a crying mess. She reached out a hand to comfort her.

"Etna… please… I know you feel sad… but this is no way to deal with it. Mira… may not have been my daughter, but she is your daughter as well as my husband's. Laharl isn't taking this any easier you know. And if both of you are sad, then you know that I am too. We're family Etna, you're not the only one who's been hurt by this."

Seeing that her words had at least slowed down the river of salty liquid on Etna's face, Flonne continued. "Listen to me Etna. Yes, I know it's been twenty seven years. Yes, I know that we have absolutely no clue of where she could be, but we do know what world she's in. Even after all these years, Laharl still hasn't given up on finding Mira."

Once more, she paused. This time, Etna had completely stopped crying. She still looked depressed, very much so, but at least she was calmer now. Flonne allowed a small smile to make its way onto her face. She turned towards the pinkette and pulled her into an embrace, and Etna, being in the state she was in, didn't have the strength to pull away like she normally would. This time, she simply chose to stay there in the fallen angel's embrace, taking in all the comfort it provided as the blonde demoness spoke soothing words into her ears. True, she would've preferred being in her husband's arms, but he himself was busy at the moment.

It had been well over seven hundred years after the demon Overlord Laharl Krichevskoy had made an alliance with Celestia, the land of angels. An odd move in the eyes of many other demons to be sure, but not one without its own benefits.

It was around five hundred years after this alliance was made that a romance, if a bumpy one to begin with, had started between the Overlord, his vassal, Etna, and the fallen angel, Flonne. This, in turn, eventually led to the women being given the title: Queens of the netherworld.

Two hundred years later, a new development had taken place: Flonne and Etna became pregnant. Now, a little known fact outside the netherworld is that, despite the large abundance of demons throughout the uncountable number of netherworlds, it is actually quite rare for new demons to be born. Instead, most demons are created via the re-incarnation of tainted souls. That said, the birth of not one, but two new demons into a reigning royal family had naturally become a grand affair. A great celebration was thrown for the births of the two new netherworld princesses, complete with wide-spread battles, some of which, surprisingly enough, were kept in arenas. All those who had become close friends to their father (another oddity among demons) had been invited to the event. The Overlords of other netherworlds, the current defenders of the earth, and even the seraph of Celestia had come to give the two children blessing.

Unfortunately for one of them though, such a blessing did not do her any good. The daughter of the black queen, Mira Krichevskoy was abducted. It was during a disturbance caused in one of the human words did this incident occur.

A great war had broken out in a place known as the Elemental Nations. This, in itself, wasn't what garnered the attention of the Overlord though. No, it was the fact that the demon lords who were working under him in this world were being sealed off and used as weapons which had gotten the king's notice.

And of course, where there are those who capture demons, there are also those who would attempt to summon them, and summon them they did. By way of some miracle, a group of lucky (or otherwise unlucky) ninja had managed to succeed in successfully summoning a demon, or rather, demoness.

Of course, being who she was, Etna did not take kindly to being ordered by humans, just to become their weapon, especially considering that she was summoned while breast-feeding her child. The blood of many was spilt that day as she slaughtered those who had dared to command her, putting down her child to do so more freely. This would have been the biggest mistake she would ever make.

As luck would have it, one of her summoners had managed to get away before her killing spree started, and upon seeing the demon they had summoned put down its child (he refused to call the demon a her), he had immediately reversed the summoning, sending Etna back into the netherworld. Mira, not being the intended target of the summoning, was left behind.

And so, Etna's grief had begun. Every year, at the end of the human month of September, Etna would remember the loss of her daughter and her mask of sadistic glee would shatter for just a small period of time.

She wasn't the only one affected, of course. From the time that his daughter was taken, up to the present day, Laharl had all of his best trackers searching for her. It was around two years later when they had gotten news about her general location. One of the local demon lords, a three tailed giant turtle, the Sanbi no Kyodaigame had told him about a child that matched Mira's description who was rescued from a group of rouge ninja.

Sadly, the turtle demon's freedom was brief before he himself was sealed away, and so could not tell him the location of those that had saved his child. The event was disheartening for the demonic emperor and his mates. To know that they were so close to finding her, only to fail because of the humans' greed for power.

The blue haired demon had very nearly wiped the village that had sealed the demonic reptile of the map, a place called Kirigakure, if his other informants were accurate, but decided against it. There was a small chance that the people of Kiri might have been the ones who had Mira. It wouldn't do to destroy the mist shrouded village… yet.

After that incident, all search parties were called back from the other worlds. Instead, every demon ninja under his command was sent scour the vast lands of the Elemental Nations, fitting into the environment perfectly. But for all their effort, not a single thing was found, even after nearly a quarter of century of searching… that is, until one fateful night on the tenth of October.

-X-

In the Elemental Nations, there exists five major ninja villages. This story, the real story, starts out at what many consider the strongest of these villages: Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves.

It was October tenth, a very festive event for most of the villagers, for this was the day that the village's greatest leader, the fourth Hokage, had managed to defeat the strongest of the tailed beasts, the Kyubi no Yoko.

Every year, on this day, people of all ages and all walks of life would be out on the streets, basking in the merriment of the festival's attractions. Adults could be found drinking all over the place. Ninja that were lucky enough to be off duty would be having the time of their lives, enjoying a day where they didn't need to put their lives on the line. Children of all ages were running around, playing festival games, eating junk food and wearing masks as they explored the festival grounds with their relatives.

However…

For one child in Konoha, this was not the case…

In one of the more secluded areas of the city-sized village, a small boy, no older than seven years was running for his life. He was messy and bleeding all over from a multitude of cuts marring his body. His normally off-white shirt was torn and yellow with brown splotches of muck, the red insignia of Konoha proudly embroidered on the torso of the shirt was barely visible now.

Behind the young boy was a mob of about two to three dozen people, civilian and shinobi alike, each one armed with whatever was available to them. The shouts calling for the little child's death were endless as shuriken and kunai alike were hurled by the ninja among the crowd towards the blonde child.

The boy could only continue to run, making use of what little benefit his short, sabotaged time in the academy granted him, pumping what small amount of chakra he could control into the coils in his legs. They were burning in protest as he continued to weave around the metal projectiles, a feat he was capable of only because of the practice incidents like this one had given him. His sapphire blue eyes showing deep sadness and the desperation to get away as tears ran down his eyes, running down his whiskered cheek.

This boy was Uzumaki Naruto, the pariah of Konoha, jinchuuriki of the Kyubi no yoko and, unknown to all but the third Hokage, the son of Uzumaki Kushina, the previous jinchuuriki of the Kyubi no Yoko and Namikaze Minato, Konoha's yondaime Hokage. It was his birthday today, but unlike most children, to Naruto, this wasn't a day of celebration, no, this was the day when he was guaranteed to get chased and beaten, and so, he hid, and when he was found, he ran.

Naruto continued on his wild run, dodging and weaving in and out of the alleyways to escape his pursuers. But alas, it was for naught. Even though a majority of his persecutors were civilians, his continuous dodging of the kunai and shuriken was slowing him down immensely, taxing even him and his monstrous stamina.

It wasn't long before disaster struck. As the blonde grew tired from running and dodging, he continued to move more and more sluggishly. More and more of the thrown blades got closer to reaching their target, grazing him again and again, until finally, one hit its mark.

Naruto felt a great pain go through his right leg as the blade pierced it right to the bone, causing him to fall flat on his face. Despair crept up his spine as the villagers drew closer, malicious grins lined upon their features. As the closest one raised his weapon of choice, a broken glass bottle, Naruto prepared himself for the pain.

The villagers continued to torture him with every possible method available as they got to their favorite part of the annual Kyubi hunt, beating down the demon fox that had made them suffer while screaming it to his face.

There wouldn't be any mercy for the young jinchuuriki, that much he knew, so instead of begging, he simply chose to keep silent, hoping to slip into blissful unconsciousness where he would feel no more pain, wondering all the while what he did to deserve such treatment.

He was so close to it. He could feel his eyelids growing heavy as black spots appeared at the edge of his vision. The pain, all the pain was starting to become numb as he felt his reprieve approaching

His attackers would have none of it.

With a mighty jolt from a raiton jutsu, Naruto's mind was shocked back into complete awareness, the numbing effect of the electricity coursing through his body only giving him a few more seconds before the pain returned.

They wouldn't have any of it indeed. Death was going to come tonight in this alley. This would be the last Kyubi hunt. Those were the thoughts of all of Naruto's assaulters that night. Unknown to them, that prediction would come true… unfortunately for them.

-X-

Inside Naruto's mindscape, a giant nine tailed fox looked on through the eyes of its container with fury. **"And to think that those pathetic beings would dare call me a monster,"** the great beast muttered to itself, watching angrily as the villagers continued to torture the blonde child, trying it's best to heal him and keep the boy alive.

The fox demon's anger rose when she saw what would happen next. The beating had finally stopped and the villagers had backed away, but it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. The strongest of the tailed beast could do naught but glare at what Naruto was witnessing.

As soon as the crowd had backed up enough, another man came over; a ninja if the chunin vest he wore was any indication. Like all the other villagers, this man had a malicious smirk on his features, his face contorted into a crazed and menacing visage as he carried a barrel of gasoline over his shoulders.

Any fool would know what would happen next. It wasn't long before the Kyubi saw the embers of a mighty flame starting to fall. Its anger peaked at that moment. Its youki flaring in all directions, flooding Naruto's chakra coils.

It would have continued to do so too, if it didn't feel another explosion of youki from within its prison. Instinctively, the mighty fox tensed. It knew this youki. This was the aura of the Azurae demon tribe(1), which had only one known survivor. Kyubi's eyes widened in recognition and fear.

**"By kami! This boy… he's… but that means… Kushina was… and I…"** Kyubi said, slowly backing up into its cage as though being cornered by a predator. An expression of fear clearly visible on its vulpine face. **"I… I killed Overlord Laharl's daughter,"** the great fox finished just as the realization of just what its actions had brought unto itself was.

**"I… I may not have been… in control of myself, but… I still killed her. If the Overlord finds out about this… when the Overlord finds out about this…"** but the morbid thoughts of the Kyubi no Yoko had no time to form as another explosion of Naruto's youki occurred, this one bigger than the last. No longer was it confined within the young boy's body only. No, this explosion had burst straight out of Naruto's tiny frame, putting out the flames and knocking all of his tormentors back.

-X-

(A few minutes back, on the other side of Konoha)

There are very few things that can annoy a great ninja. There are even less things that can annoy a demon ninja, despite their more aggressive nature. There is hardly anything that can annoy an Overlord's top ninja.

Unfortunately, going to a festival was one of those very few things that Kagetarou was annoyed with.

A normally patient demon by virtue, a trait normally present in only a handful of tribes and disciplines of the demon realm, he was the perfect candidate to lead the Zan'ei(2) battalion, Overlord Laharl's ninja army.

Appearance wise, he may not have been much: dark, slicked-back grey hair, clinging to his scalp before spiking outwards where they touched the neck, a lean but muscular build, garbed in very simple civilian clothing. All in all, a very unassuming guy. About the only thing worth noticing where his elfin ears, but in a world where various clans had animal like features, it was mostly overlooked.

But just like any ninja, demon or otherwise, appearances could be very deceiving. As one of Laharl's personal vassals, he was among the strongest fighters in his home netherworld, and certainly the fastest. A master of all branches of demonic ninjutsu, the general was understandably very well feared. Unfortunately, most demons in the netherworld had already forgotten him in his twenty five years of absence due to the search for his Overlord's heiress. Which is where was now; disguised as a civilian like so many times before, in a new village he had moved into just a month or two back and tired as all hell from a quarter century's lack of clues.

_"Stuck in this world for over twenty five years and still not a single lead,_" he glumly thought, letting a sigh escape from his lips, trying desperately to block out the sound of all the people around him. _"Grr… I'm already the laughing stock of Overlord Laharl's ten generals(3), can't I at least get a break for once."_

As if to answer his prayers, Kagetarou felt a powerful surge of youki originating from within the village. His head instantly shot up, going into high alert and surprising the other patrons of the bar he was in. It was far away, but the feel of the aura was unmistakable.

_"An Azurae demon… and a young one at that. It's got to be her!"_

With all thoughts of stealth thrown out the window, the demonic shinobi ran out of the bar and took to the roofs towards the source of the dark energy, moving at speeds that could make a certain green clad jonin turn into a hulk lookalike from his envy.

-X-

They stared. That was all that the villagers could do as they saw the malevolent aura pouring out of the child that was once their prey, his screams becoming completely silent to their ears. Even the shinobi were so paralyzed with fear, they couldn't even back away while the civilians had already managed to soil themselves.

They watched with morbid fascination as the blonde boy began to change. His entire ribcage seemed to expand, as did his shoulders, becoming much broader while his stomach flattened. Where once he was all skin and bones from malnutrition, he was now rapidly gaining muscles, his stomach showing the makings of a four pack, an odd sight for one of his age. Naruto's eyes had changed, however, unlike the red slited eyes that they had expected, his eyes had become akin to a blood red version of the Byakugan.

This was the scene that Kagetarou arrived to. He looked down to see the source of the youki, a small blonde child, the remnants of a burnt shirt hanging off of his rapidly changing frame as he gained the distinct build of the Azurae demons. He could also see the makings of a pitch black tail and chiropteran wings forming on his back.

The shadow general looked on in confusion. "A… boy? And a mere child at that. What in Baal's name is going on?" he asked himself as he continued to observe. Realization hit him as he saw the blonde boy's whiskered cheeks. "Wait a second… that's the child that everybody in the village told me to stay away from… Naruto, if I'm correct. An orphan with unknown parents." He sighed, trying to imagine just what kind of reaction this would get from the already distraught queen. "This isn't going to end well," he uttered under his breath, shaking his head at the rather… brutal mental pictures.

Hoping that he would at least be allowed to live for retrieving what he deduced to be his king's grandson, Kagetarou dove into the alley, landing right in between the villagers and the transforming child, just as said child's tormentors had finally gained the courage to approach the target of their rage.

They stopped in their tracks as the demon general landed. The same man who had set Naruto ablaze looked towards the new arrival. "Who the hell are you?"

Kagetarou just looked at him with a bored expression. "What did you do to this child?" he asked, completely ignoring the human's question, his tone matching the look on his face to a T.

The statement obviously sparked something in the villagers as one of the civilians, a rather fat merchant from the looks of it, had immediately stood up, pointing past Kagetarou towards Naruto. "That's no child!" he blurted out, "that… that… _thing_… is nothing but a God forsaken demon! It needs to be killed!" the merchant declared, getting shouts of agreement from the crowd.

The Zan'ei general just continued to stare at them, his head turning slowly to look at them all before his eyes turned back to focusing on the fat man. From behind him, he could feel flow of youki coming to an end, the thud of a body hitting the ground indicating that the boy had passed out, but he paid it no heed. His first priority at this point was to punish these people. No demon, no matter how dishonorable would ever harm a child to that extent. Kill, perhaps, but it would always be quick and painless. His gaze turned towards the rooftops. "Is what he said true, Kage of Konoha?"

That question quickly got the mob's attention. They all turned towards the same place that Kagetarou was staring at. Surely enough, the sandaime Hokage was standing on the rooftop to their right, wearing his black battle armor and accompanied by half a dozen ANBU.

The battle-hardened man's eyes darted from the group of villagers that had once again attacked Naruto to the strange man that stood between them and their target. "Arrest them," he commanded, gesturing towards a dog masked ANBU to his right.

The ANBU captain was just about to give his command before he was interrupted by a cold voice. "No." Now everyone was looking at Kagetarou once more as he eyed the villagers. "You people… attempted to kill my lord's grandson. … Imprisonment will be too kind a punishment for you. I will kill you all myself," he stated. All those present threw the man a questioning look for his first statement before contorting to alarm and, mostly among the civilians, fear.

The ninja that attacked Naruto though, simply grew angry. "Hah! You? Kill us? You don't seem to get what's going on here do you?" the chunin arrogantly questioned, thinking it impossible for a man to take them all on, and for the ANBU to just let it happen.

The smirk he got in return though sent shivers down his spine. "Oh, I assure you… **I most definitely 'get' this situation**," Kagetarou started, his voice becoming deeper and harsher as his own youki started to flare. **"And believe me, I definitely can kill you… all of you."**

No sooner did the words leave when an even larger burst of youki blasted out from the alleyway, this time coming from the shadow general. For the second time that night, the villagers ended up soiling themselves, causing the shadow general's smirk to widen.

**"Heh… heheheheh… still think I can't kill you?"** the grey haired demon asked, his eyes glowing a sickly green. **"Heheheheh… let me tell you this; if this entire village couldn't even kill a ordinary demon lord like the Kyubi**, **what hope could you possibly have against a demon Overlord's general?"** he asked the terrified audience. But they didn't get a chance to answer. Before they could even move, Kagetarou was already on them, punching straight through the chunin's chest before throwing the man's carcass towards the merchant who had shouted earlier, blasting out a wave of slicing wind just as they made contact, shredding them to pieces.

Neither the Hokage nor the ANBU were able to react in time. When they had gotten to the ground, the entire mob had already been eradicated, their killer now picking up Naruto's prone body.

"What do you think you're doing?" the aged Kage questioned in a threatening but cautious voice, trying not to aggravate the man that held his surrogate grandson over his shoulders, taking a small step forward as he did so.

The shadow general looked over his shoulder. "What am I doing?" he asked back, feigning innocence, his voice having returned to that of a human's. A smile soon played on his lips. "Why, I'm taking this child to his grandparents of course."

The Hokage wanted to say more, but before he could do anything, the mysterious man was already gone, disappearing in a burst of dark fire. Sarutobi could do nothing but stare at the scorched spot. It was a while before all the ANBU had returned to their stations, the Hokage following soon after.

"That youki, the one from Naruto and that man… both of them were definitely felt by every ninja Konoha. Probably by the civilians as well. The council is definitely going to get a jump on this.

-X-

(On the outskirts of Konoha)

A burst of black fire heralded the arrival of the fastest of Laharl's ten generals, with Naruto held securely on his shoulders. Setting the boy down, he closed his eyes in concentration.

"Gatekeeper! This Insho(4) Kagetarou! The Zan'ei battalion's mission has finally been completed. Open up the gate at our rendezvous point. Keep it open for a week." he mentally ordered, sending a telepathic message to the dimensional gatekeeper. He set off as soon as he got an affirmative, with Naruto once more on his shoulders.

-X-

And so ends the first chapter of newest story. And to darkvizardking69, I hope you liked it so far. It was your story that inspired this, and your challenge that made me decide to write it. To everyone, please leave a review to show your appreciation.

(1) From what I gathered, the different classes of humanoid demons in Disgaea all come from different tribes. So since Laharl is a humanoid demon, I decided to put him into a tribe of his own. As a side note, Azurae means azure, from Laharl and his father's hair colour.

(2) Zan'ei, literally meaning cutting shadow. A nod towards an old time favourite game of mine.

(3) The ten generals I mention are the created characters that I most often used in Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. All of them are the top tiers of their class. They are made up of, from strongest to weakest, in terms of their individual fortes: a ronin, a female healer (forgot the actual class name), a ninja (Kagetarou), a prinny god, an archer, a knight, a mage, a scout and a thief. I don't like using majins and angels, they make things too easy. While they won't get much spotlight, they will play an important role in this story.

(4) Insho, translates to 'Shadow general'. Once again, a nod to one of my favourite game characters of all time.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow… my last chapter got even better reception than I thought. Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read my story and add it to your subscription/favourites list. Extra thanks to those that bothered to review. So, without further ado, here's the second chapter of Disgaea: Dawn of a new Darkness.

No I don't own either Naruto, Disgaea, or any other series that is hinted at or outright mentioned here.

**Chapter II: Family**

Demons… Angels… Humans. Instead of learning to understand each other, they use words like 'good' or 'evil' to differentiate themselves from one another. … Never once thinking that perhaps all could live as one. That… is the sad truth.

-X-

Kagetarou shook in fear at the being before. This was most rare for any of the ten generals. But even Baal himself would cower had he been facing the same being that the ninja general was facing right now. It was overlord Laharl that had brought an end to the immortal demon's existence, turning its soul into his own sword. It was also overlord Laharl that Kagetarou was afraid of.

As soon as he'd returned, the demonic shinobi had gone straight to his lord, telling him of all his findings and conclusions. Suffice to say, the overlord was not pleased. Neither were the two women beside him. To his poor luck, the ninja had ended up needing to report his findings when both queens were present. If he had to guess, the rage that all of them exuded could probably be felt from all around the netherworld.

The silver haired demon prayed within his head that he would survive past the day.

"Would you care to repeat that again… Kagetarou."

The command was level, emotionless and barely above a whisper. For the blue haired overlord, that could only mean one thing. Someone was going to die, and he _really_ hoped that it wasn't him.

"Uhh… well… my lord. I'm afraid… it would seem that your daughter, princess Mira has… unfortunately already passed away. I… found a child at the village that I had most recently 'moved' into that possesses the same youki signature of the Azurae tribe. A seven year old orphan who, from my short experience in the area, was hated by a majority of those around him and often abused. It is in my belief that the child is in fact, the son of your daughter."

And suddenly the rage spiked. It took all of Kagetarou's willpower not to run away there and then. That would surely get him killed. So he waited there. Kneeling on one knee and sweating up a storm.

"**Are you positive in your findings?" **it was Etna that spoke this time, her voice holding a malice that could kill lesser beings by its presence alone.

The general nodded, "Absolutely. The child's youki also had properties of the Nephilim(1) tribe. It could only be your descendant." There was no room for mistakes here. If he answered anything wrong, it would cost him his head… along with the rest of his body and likely his soul. Of that much he knew.

"Where is he?" Flonne demanded.

"At the castle's hospital wing. Isho(2) Chiyu is tending to him as we speak," reported Kagetarou.

A sudden gust blew past him on both sides as blurs of black, red and yellow shot past him. He took a chance and raised his head to look at the throne where Laharl sat upon. It was only the two of them there now, but he barely took notice of that. There was no killing intent in the air anymore, A good sign for him. But his king… Kagetarou almost felt sorry for whoever would be the target of the silent anger that was boiling on his face… almost.

"Kagetarou."

"Yes, your majesty?"

"You said that my grandson was abused, correct?"

"That… would be an understatement, your majesty."

There was a long pause as Laharl did his best to compose himself, his eyes closed as if in deep thought. "To what extent?" There was no small amount of dread in his tone as he asked that, but he knew he felt it inside. Laharl was afraid of what his general's answer would be.

"When I found the child, it appeared to me as though he had released his demonic powers when the villagers attempted to burn him alive. There was also evidence of him being beaten with various tools and weapons. This, I believe, is the worst they would go in terms of physical abuse."

Once more, the throne room was silent. It was really starting to make the ninja very nervous. There were many that were afraid of overlord Laharl when screaming in rage, as rare as that had become. Those that truly knew him though, knew that he was even more dangerous when he hid his anger.

"What of those that did this?"

"Eliminated."

Laharl looked at the kneeling form before him with a contemplative gaze, thinking of his next move. Finally, he spoke his next order. "Tell me all that you can about this village. Afterwards, you are to pass on an order to Bakura. I want the as many of those that had been involved in this put into the lowest ranked duty of my prinny squadron."

"On cleaning duty, my lord?" the shadow general asked, not getting the logic behind it at all. Sure, cleaning the entire castle was bemoaned to have been torture by the prinnies but… wasn't it too light.

The overlord smirked. "No. Training dummies. I need to train my new heir after all."

-X-

(Hospital wing)

His entire body was in pain. That was the very first thing that Naruto had taken notice of. His chest, in particular, felt like the muscles were about to break. His arms felt like lead and his legs, like iron. His head was throbbing with pounding agony.

And yet, he still managed to open his eyes. They were greeted by a blinding light. Instinctively, the blonde tried to shield his eyes, but he found his arms too sore to respond. Relenting, the child chose to close his eyes once more, trying to remember what it was that had caused him to feel all this anguish.

He remembered being attacked… again. He was stabbed, beaten, cut, all the usual stuff. And then, there was the fire, and all was blank after that. Slowly, Naruto once more tried to open his eyes, trying to get them used to the light.

"How is he?" he heard a voice ask. It was distinctively female, soft as well, yet it also held a subtle commanding tone to it. The blonde decided to pretend to be asleep. He knew from experience that this could've well been a trick. He could picture it now: someone would pretend to care for him, trying to fool him. Taking him in for a few days and giving him false kindness. And then, they'd hurt him, they'd him like everyone else. It had happened twice before, it could happen again. He needed to know if they were honestly worried. If not, he'd just get away once he could move.

"He's as close to being fine as anyone that's gone through what he has could get. It would seem that he was already completely healed of all injuries from whatever he suffered before his power was released. However, all cellular injuries from his body's change from its normal human structure to that of the Azurae's, as well as growing the wings and tail of the Nephilim are still in the process of treatment. I'm afraid it will take a while for him to fully recover all motor functions. Even his nerve cells are frayed."

The voice, which he assumed to have belonged to a doctor, was unfamiliar to him. Not only because it was a new voice, but also because it held none of the hidden malice that his usual doctors carried with them. Did they not know who he was. If so, he prayed to Kami that they wouldn't find out soon.

"Is it alright if we see him?" asked another, more forceful feminine voice. There was some desperation in there as well. But for what reason he did not know.

"Of course your majesty. However, I would also ask you not to touch him at the moment. Any touch the slightest bit too forceful can cause him great pain."

"_Your majesty?"_ thought the young boy. Why was a queen here? In Konoha? And what did she want with him?

He heard the door open as those that had conversed outside stepped in. they didn't sound like they wanted to hurt him, but Naruto continued his ruse, calming his breath to emulate that of his sleeping self. He had great practice with it, doing so for the latter half of his two years in the academy. It seemed that the teachers only started to openly help students when he was asleep, otherwise, they'd only help them personally, even with the same problems; him being the exception. Plus, they wouldn't be so vague about the lesson. He learned easier this way.

There was a long pause of silence. They're probably looking me over, were Naruto's thoughts.

"So… you're positive that he's who Kagetarou claims he is?" asked the third voice.

"Perfectly so. We've used everything from our own soul tests to the human's DNA tests. All tests prove positive. He is undoubtedly your grandson, your highness."

That nearly caused the whiskered blonde to sit up. A grandmother? The woman barely sounded older than the mother's of his classmates. How could someone like that be his grandmother. He knew it wasn't possible. He knew it could've been a trick. He knew he shouldn't have opened his eyes. And yet, Naruto did.

He was greeted by the sight of three females: two redheads and one blonde. The woman that he guessed to be the doctor, judging from the clipboard in her hands, was rather oddly dressed for a doctor, he noted. Whereas most doctors wore the usual button-up shirt and pants/skirt under a white lab coat attire, this one wore nothing of the sort. Instead, she was dressed in a long, black, strapless dress with red trims. It was very long, covering even her feet from view, and frilly at the very bottom as well. Fur lined the top hem of the dress. Naruto also took note of the golden cuffs on her wrists and her pointed ears. Her hair was a deep crimson that lead down to where her knees would've been. She had a surprised look on her face, though it was rather difficult to tell with her eyes squinted shut.

The second woman shared her surprise. She was the blonde among the group. The woman was garbed in a regal red gown with white wing like patterns and a golden cross as the centrepiece. Her eyes were wide and a deep red, her fangs elongated and her blonde hair reached the small of her back. But none of that caught his surprise more than the crimson wings and tail that seemed to originate from behind her.

The third woman had them too, Naruto noticed, except hers was black. Upon further inspection, he found that her hair was actually very dark pink, rather than being red, as he first thought. Her clothes seemed to be made more for battle than anything else: pitch black leather gloves and bracers, matching steel toed combat boots, a large skirt that was parted mid-thigh, also black, but with gold edges and what looked like a cross between a strapless shirt and a breastplate.

The oddest of all about her though were neither of these things. No. The oddest thing was, she looked to be nearly in tears, and yet, she was smiling. She was smiling at him.

And then, she hugged him and he passed out from the pain.

-X-

(Konoha: council chambers)

It had been half a day since the outcome of the most recent Kyubi hunt, and as expected, the Konoha council was in an uproar.

"I TOLD YOU! WE SHOULD'VE KILLED THAT DEMON WHILE WE HAD THE CHANCE!"

That was among the most common things being shouted at the time by a majority of the attendees. The majority being the civilian council. Opposite them sat the heads of the six main clans of Konoha, and in between were the Hokage and his advisors.

"ENOUGH!"

That quieted them all down. It was not often that the Hokage raised his voice like that. Especially not while releasing killing intent. As the shouting grew to a simple muttering among both sides. He was at least glad that the shinobi side had not reacted as the civilian side had been. Something he worried about, considering the nature of the meeting.

"Now, I'm certain all of you had felt what had occurred earlier during the festival, correct?" he asked them, already knowing the answer, and how it would likely be phrased. He wasn't disappointed in the very least.

"Yes hokage-sama. That demon in child's clothing had finally decided to get its revenge on the village and slaughtered many villagers; civilian and shinobi alike."

As expected, it was one of the 'braver' members of the civilian council, though he was cowed right after by a glare from the hokage.

"Naruto is _not_ a demon, nor was it Naruto that killed those people," the aged man said in a controlled yet venomous tone.

"If that I the case, then who was it that slaughtered so many people? Surely it was not the ANBU that found them?"

The question this time, came from the shinobi half of the council. From the head of the Aburame clan, to be precise. Sarutobi was glad for that, hopefully, it would divert less attention to his surrogate grandson.

"No, it wasn't. Very likely it was a spy from another village, and a very fast one at that. The man was dressed in civilian clothing when we saw him. He was the source of the second wave of demonic energy that was felt earlier, so it would be wise to assume that he too was a jinchuuriki."

This caused the muttering to rise in magnitude and volume. Another jinchuuriki, in their village, and he had apparently taken the Kyubi jinchuuriki with them.

"Hokage-sama, how could you let such a thing happen!" shouted one of his advisors, Homura was his name.

"We must send hunter-nin after them immediately! We can't let another village get their hands on the Kyubi!" shouted Koharu, his other advisor.

Sarutobi was about to give a reply to his former teammates ramblings, but he was cut off before he could even utter a word.

"That won't be necessary… nor possible… human," came a voice that dripped with venom. It was a deep baritone that brought along with it a sense of foreboding.

Before any could locate its origin, a blue swirl of light appeared in arch of the semi-circular council table. Slowly, and with the disturbing 'thud' of shoes on stone, a man walked out of the portal.

He was quite odd in appearance. He had azure blue hair that draped over his feral and rugged face, with two antenna like protrusions coming up at the top. He wore a black trench coat with ripped sleeves. A buckle went from each shoulder to the opposite hip, giving full view of his odd, but nonetheless very impressive build. The man's stomach seemed to have sunk in quite a lot, as though he were malnourished, yet it still beheld a very remarkable six pack. The upper torso was the opposite; it seemed to protrude outwards, the ribs pressing upon the flesh in an almost unnoticeable manner, but it was also very broad and sturdy. To finish off his attire, he also had baggy crimson pants and steel soled red shoes with gold buckles that matched the colour of the bracelets on both his arms. Most imposing of all about his garb was the long, blood-red scarf around his neck that moved as if weaved from fire.

The azure haired man scanned the gathered council with fierce, crimson eyes. "So… you're the ones that run this village huh?"

Nobody knew why, but all those seated in the room right then felt a shiver go down their spine, even the shinobi half of the council. This… man. There was definitely something to be wary about him, was the thought of all the clan heads, and the hokage's as well.

Unfortunately for the civilians, they decided to ignore that subtle fear.

"Who the hell do you think you are! Barging into a council meeting like that! You aren't even from this village and you just burst in here like that! That is a crime punishable by death!"

All eyes turned towards the ranting civilian. He was nothing more than a very rich merchant, as far as everyone else was concerned. He looked the part as well: fat, had all sorts of jewellery to show off his status, not to mention rather greasy, a perfect fit to his personality.

Laharl let loose a laugh, his head pointed to the ground, hiding his face behind his hair. "Punishable by death?" he asked mockingly, now looking at the man with a predatory smirk, "Ha! Don't make me laugh! As if any of you maggots could ever even hope to hurt _me_!"

His voice had a manic tone in it, but the sheer confidence behind that was impossible to miss. And somehow, those that knew better had the feeling that he wasn't just being arrogant. There was a very big difference between how he said those words, and how the Uchiha had boasted about themselves. This man meant every word, giving them all the more reason to be wary.

"Feh… don't be so arrogant!"

I believe I mentioned that only those who knew better had noticed.

This time, the one that had spoken was one of the few women in the council, and a loud one at that; in both voice, and appearance. It was to Laharl's amazement that he hadn't noticed her in the beginning. The loud woman stood out in the room more than a prinny god in a sea of privates with her large forehead and pink hair. It wasn't Etna's kind of pink hair either, the councilwoman's shade of hair was completely absurd.

"_We_ are the council of Konoha! The strongest of the five major villages! I'd start begging for my life right about now if I were-!"

"That is _enough_! Haruno-san," Sarutobi ordered, cutting the woman off with a harsh stare. He then turned towards the intruder. "I'll give you only a minute to explain yourself! Who are you! What is your purpose for coming here! How did you enter these chambers without notice from the guards!"

The intense glare that came from the sandaime could have broken through the resolve of many great ninja, especially when backed up by accompanying stares of Konoha's clan heads. Most people would have folded, or in the very least, started shaking in fear. The blue haired man… just stood there and glared back.

The stare off ended with a grimace from the man in black. "In reverse order: I teleported here, I came here for my grandson, and… as to _who I am_…" he smirked at that part, fangs sharper than any Inuzuka's glinting in the light, "_I_ am the demon overlord, Laharl Krichevskoy!" he shouted out, releasing a mass wave of youki.

The sheer magnitude of the malignant aura was enough to cover all of Konoha, and a good portion of the surrounding forest. Thousands of people, young and old, started falling to their knees, unable to breath. Babies started crying as loud as they could. All the shinobi and kunoichi were frozen in place with shock, fear and awe. The level of power that the aura possessed had dwarfed the Kyubi's by at least ten times, if not more so. This was the shared thoughts of many among them. A few others had something else floating in their minds. _"It's just like that aura from the festival!"_

Back in the council chambers, all but two people remained conscious. Laharl let reigned in his youki and focused on the only other person in the room who was still awake. The Hokage was in a deep sweat as his torso laid on the table; his breath, haggard and exhausted, and his mind, barely coherent.

Laharl approached the fallen leader. "You and I have much to talk about… brat."

-X-

(Back in the netherworld)

Etna stared at her grandson's sleeping form with more concern than most would ever see on her face. After getting berated by Chiyu –which, for once, she allowed to happen– for her impulsive action, the black clad queen had asked to be alone with the sleeping child, to which the healer demon had agreed to… with some reluctance.

Her eyes widened quickly when she noticed his eyes started to open. At first, his eyes were unfocused, probably seeing in blurs, but when he regained his full sense of sight, his eyes immediately went to the pink haired woman.

"You're… finally awake. … Sorry about what I did earlier," Etna apologized with a sheepish smile. The smile soon turned into a concerned frown when she noticed the boy inch away from her as best he could. "What's wrong?" she asked with no small amount of concern.

The response she got worried her. Her grandson stared back at her with fear in his eyes, but he also held himself like he was trying to size her up, as if preparing for a way to fight… or rather, survive, if the desperation that was hidden behind all of it was any indication. _"What the hell did those damn humans do to my grandson!"_ she mentally yelled, her face contorting in anger. The whiskered blonde flinched back.

Seeing the child's reaction, Etna schooled in her emotions and faced him again with a concern that only a mother could give… or in this case, a grandmother. "There there, calm down. No one's going to hurt you here. Not while I'm around. You don't need to be scared," she said, reassuringly.

Seeing the boy regress back to his previous position brought a smile to her face. It may not have been what she wanted, but at least she calmed him down, which meant he trusted her, if only a little… right? She hoped that was the case.

"Wh… Who are you?" Naruto asked, talking for the first time.

Etna's smile widened a little at that. "My name is Etna Krichevskoy. And you are?"

"…Uzumaki Naruto," he answered with great reluctance.

There was a long silence washed over the two of them as they sat, staring at each other; one with concern, the other with fear and curiosity.

"You… That woman said you were my grandmother, right? Was she telling the truth?" Naruto inquired, breaking the silence. Etna answered in affirmative. "How? You don't look that old" he stated, matter-of-factly.

The redheaded queen laughed at that. "Well, I certainly thank you for the complement, but I'll have you know, I'm well over two thousand years old."

Seeing the disbelieving stare she got from the child, Etna decided to elaborate. "Naruto, was it?" he nodded, "What I'm about to tell you right now might worry you a little, but I assure you, you have no need to be alarmed. You see Naruto, I am a Nephilim, a type of demon."

Naruto's eyes widened at that, and he backed away once more. "A de… demon!" he shouted in alarm, his fear magnifying to greater limits.

Etna frowned once more. She sighed before explaining." Yes Naruto, a demon. You are one too, actually. Or more likely, half of one. I _am_ your grandmother, remember?"

Realization dawned on the blonde hero at her words. All those beatings her received, how he'd been abused. Did those in Konoha know about this? His face fell as he stared at the blankets over his legs in despair.

This worried Etna. "Is something the matter? What's wrong?" she asked in concern.

Naruto turned to her, unsure at first, but then he decided to trust her. She hadn't done anything wrong so far, and she said that she was his grandmother. And so, Naruto told Etna about all that he had gone through.

None approached the hospital wing after that, for fear of being slaughtered in the most painful and merciless way.

-X-

(Throne room)

All ten generals were gathered in front of the throne; five lining up on both sides, kneeling on one of the carpeted stone steps as Laharl strode into the room, going between them to sit on his thrown.

"Rise!" he commanded. At his words, all ten of them stood, facing him as all of them moved to the bottom of the stone steps.

"Chiyu! What have you found out about my grandson's condition!"

Immediately, the red headed healer stepped forward. "Well your highness, as far as his physical condition is concerned, he is as healthy as one in his condition could possibly be, and recovering quite fast. However… I've recently found some disturbing results…"

"There is a foreign youki in his system correct?" Laharl inquired, getting a surprised look from the medic.

"Umm… yes… how did you-?"

"I got some information from the leader of the village he was living in. Apparently, he is had the 'Kyubi no yoko', or the fox demon lord, Kasumi, as I'm sure some of you know her better, sealed inside of him at birth."

That got a wide array of reactions from the ten gathered. Kasumi was the last demon they had heard of to not have been sealed away. If she was sealed, that meant that there was no demon lord in the area. And with no demon lord…

"That place is going to be crawling with demons once word of this gets out," one of the generals summed up. It was a woman with long, purple highlighted black hair. She was clad in a white battle kimono and greenish yellow hakama.

"Indeed. However, that isn't of any current concern," Laharl stated, stopping the conversation among the generals immediately. He then turned to the only non-humanoid among the ten. "Bakura, how is it t your end?"

The golden, peg-legged, satchel carrying, exploding penguin looked up at the overlord. "Dood, it took a bit of searching, but I managed to find five of the guys you told me about dood. They've been bought over and will be here by the end of the week. The others are gonna be harder to find, but I'll get them. You can count on me dood!"

"Good. I want at least ten of those guys here before I start training my grandson." The penguin nodded.

"Alright then. Now, as for the reason all for you are gathered here. It seems that with the discovery of my grandson, you all have just gotten yourselves some new tasks," the azure haired demon explained, all those present now giving him, ready to take their orders.

"Motoko! Kagome!" the woman from before stood at attention. Joining her was another woman with blonde hair tied into numerous curls behind her back, wearing a one piece dress with golden trims lining its skirt. "I want you two to go and find Death for me. He was the one that sealed Kasumi into my grandson, he will know best how remove her. He also apparently bears in his possession the souls of my daughter and son-in-law."

Both of gave curt nods, showing their understanding. Laharl then turned to another pair, one male, the other female. Both of them held identical staves in their hands. The male wore very baggy clothing and a mask over his head while the female had something similar to a maid outfit as her clothing. The main colour scheme was black, white and yellow for both, with little bit of gold trims on the woman's attire.

"Ryu! Sei! I want the two of you to study the seal on my grandson. In the case that Death cannot be found, I want the two of you to find out a way to break the seal without harm to my grandson."

"As for the rest of you, I'm putting you all on guard duty. Once my grandson's existence is made known, many will undoubtedly attempt to try and eliminate him. None of you, under any circumstances, are ever to let that happen! Do you all understand!"

"Yes! Your highness!"

-X-

And that's the end of the second chapter. The next chapter after this will be made, hopefully, before the month. There's going to be a time skip, next chapter, and yes, Naruto will return to Konoha. However, for all those that fell like he shouldn't, trust me when I say, you'll love his reason… or still hate it. But he certainly won't be all goody goody with them, that's for certain. Anyway, all important parts (what happens to Kyubi, or rather, Kasumi, etc) will be shown in flashbacks.

(1) Nephilim- a mythological being said to be born from the union between a fallen angel and a human. In this case, though, it is from the union of a fallen angel and a demon. A direct one, anyway. Flonne's daughter would be of the same race.

(2) Isho- translates to 'healing general'. I've decided to make the 'sho' (general) title a constant among all ten generals.

Remember, read and review! (try saying that line three times fast)


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so I didn't meet my date quota. Sorry, but my laptop's backlight broke. Don't know how it happened, but it did, and it took a good while to fix. Anyway, I'm happy to say that I'm back in the biz. And now, here's that chapter I promised last month.

And no, I don't own either Naruto, or Disgaea, or whatever other manga/anime/game that is so much as hinted at here.

Oh, and also, a reviewer mentioned that Kushina had to have grown extremely fast for demon standards to have reached the age where she could give birth within twenty years, considering the whole 'hundred human years = one demon year' thing. I actually developed a little theory that will explain that little detail. And proof to go with it to boot. More on this at the end of the chapter.

Now, read on!

**Chapter III: Return to Konoha, Naruto's task**

Refusing to understand the nature of demons… the seed of fear was planted into the souls of humanity. Fear breeds hatred… hatred breeds destruction… destruction breeds sorrow… and sorrow breeds more fear. … Such is the cycle of prejudice towards the denizens of the netherworld.

All those who cannot break out of this wheel… shall be crushed under my power. Judgement shall come.

-X-

An older Naruto stood in front of the glowing portal leading to the elemental nations, a look of contemplation upon his features as he thought back to why he was even doing this. He turned towards the main reason.

Standing far behind him, right next to his grandparents and grandaunt were two prinnies, both smiling proudly just as, if not more so than his grandparents. But these weren't ordinary prinnies, not by a long shot. No… these two were his parents.

A smile broke out onto his face as the two penguin-esque creatures smiles grew as they leaned towards each other. Then his gaze fell onto the person standing right beside him: a tanned woman whose entire apparel seemed to consist of nothing but fine, spiraling, scarlet fur. She smiled at him and gave a nod of her head.

He turned back towards the glowing blue vortex, his memories of that day flowing into his mind, of how he had come to meet all three of them. Of his greatest reason for returning to the elemental nations.

-X-

(Flashback…)

Perched upon the castle's highest tower, a seven year old Naruto looked over the city at its base, his grandfather standing behind him with a feral grin.

It had been only a week since he came into the netherworld and learned of his demonic heritage. He still had a bit of trouble with that, but he had come to accept it. His grandparents, his grandmother especially, had helped him cope with it, and he was slowly starting to accept that fact.

The blonde boy heard a chuckle from behind him. Laharl gave his grandson a prideful smirk. "It's huge, right?" he asked, though the answer was obvious. The main city of his netherworld alone was thrice the size of Konoha.

The blonde child nodded, not trusting his mouth in the least.

Laharl's grin only widened. "I thought so. And that's just the main city. There are a million more smaller settlements in this netherworld… my netherworld. And you'd better take down anyone coming from any of them who'll try to kill you."

That got a wide eyed response from the blonde as his head snapped back to gaze at the blue haired demon once more. "K… kill me!" he shouted out in surprise, only to get look from the older demon that told him that that should've been obvious.

"Yeah… kill you. Naruto, you are my heir, which means one day, thousands of years from now, you're going to have to take over the mantle of Overlord. And considering the number of demons who want that position from themselves, you're going to have to defend your place. I mean, sure, the generals are going to be protecting you for your first few years here, but you're gonna have to learn to fight for yourself at some point. And you'd better learn-"

"My liege."

"What?"

Naruto jumped up at the sudden interruption and his grandfather's subsequent reply, so much that he nearly fell off of the tower, being saved only by the act of one of the two who had interrupted the azure haired Overlord's speech, who hooked her bow onto his shirt and pulled him down into a sitting position.

The other one raised her head to look at her king. "Forgive us for the interruption, your highness, but there is little time. Kagome and I have managed to track down Death and brought him to the castle. Unfortunately, he will only stay for a short while longer if you do not meet him soon."

Laharl's posture became decidedly more relaxed at that, where as Naruto only became confused.

"Death?" the blonde asked curiously, getting a nod from his grandfather.

"Yeah, Death… or the Shinigami if that is what you would prefer calling him. I had these two search for him after you got here. Come on, there's something on you that I want him to take care of," the older demon instructed as he was led towards Death, Naruto not too far behind.

-X-

Death, Naruto decided upon meeting the spirit, was quite possibly the creepiest being he'd ever seen. Not really a surprise, all things considered. But what really made him nervous right now was that very same spirit gazing at his bare stomach, where an intricate seal was glowing with a purplish light.

The pale, glove covered hand of the Shinigami ran over the surface of his stomach, tracing the patterns on his skin, analyzing it with his hooded face. **"Ah yes…" **he drawled out with a grating, disembodied voice, akin to two stones grinding together. **"I remember this seal. It was developed by that man from the Elemental Nations: Namikaze Minato."**

The reaper spirit's gaze shifted to look towards Naruto's whiskered face. "**Child, tell me: do you know the purpose of this seal?"** he asked, to which the blonde shook his head. An unseen frown crossed the spirit's face. **"I see. Well then… allow me to explain to you…"**

It was then Naruto learned of the truth behind his birth, the Kyubi, the attack after he was delivered… and his parents. Suffice to say, the blonde was shaken.

"So… is that why?" Naruto asked himself in a hollow voice. "Is that why they hated me?"

Once more, he remembered how those in Konoha had treated him. How a majority of the civilians mistreated him, and how most of the ninja population simply ignored him. And then… rage filled his mind. "Uchiha… Madara," he only learned the name recently, and already he grew to hate the man who bore it; the man that driven his childhood into ruin.

"Demons, angels, humans…" it was his grandfather that broke him from his trance. Naruto looked towards the azure haired Overlord who was looking out of a window. As if sensing the blonde's attention on him, he continued, "Instead of learning to understand one another, they use words like 'good' or 'evil' to differentiate themselves from one another. That is the sad truth."

**"And of course, wherever there is fear, there is hatred. Wherever there is hatred, there is destruction, which brings about sorrow-"** Death picked up, as if they were in some rehearsed play. **"And finally, sorrow brings more fear, restarting the cycle of conflict again and again."** The wraith turned towards Naruto. **"Child… tell me, do you wish for me to remove that seal and release the Kyubi? I assure to you, if I am the one removing it, there is no chance for you to suffer from the act, as you would had any other attempted."**

A long silence filled the room at after that, as a whiskered face turned to the hidden visage of Death. "Alright, fine. It probably won't make a difference now, but at least the Kyubi'll be free."

Death arched an eyebrow at the boy's reasoning, though his cowl left it unseen. "**That is your only reason? Surely you at least wish some form of retribution from her for slaying your parents?"**

The wraith's reply was a resolute glare. "Like hell. I'm not going to let myself become anything like those humans that abused me. I may be a hanyou (1), but I'm willing to prove that I'm more human than any of those scumbags."

Both Death and Laharl gave him surprised stares at his declaration… right before said Overlord started laughing. "So that's gonna be your goal huh? Pretty unique for a demon. Prove the humans that you're better than them at being human. I definitely approve!" the blue haired demon announced after recovering from his laughing fit, an amused grin still on his features.

Death nodded in agreement. **"Indeed, a rare goal to be set by any demon. But we are getting off topic here. I shall begin the extraction now. Please relax yourself,"** the Shinigami instructed. Obediently, the child closed his eyes and allowed his body to go limp, as if falling asleep.

Death once more placed his palm upon the centerpiece of the seal, his hand covered in darkness. Slowly, the hand reached into the child's stomach, just as the wraith closed his eyes in concentration. It wasn't long before he made a gesture, as if grabbing something from within, before slowly pulling out a mass of red youki, bubbling as if it were alive.

The mass of demonic energy was quickly thrown onto the ground where it started morphing, taking a humanoid form as it expanded. The bubbling stopped about half way into the transformation, the surface smoothening out and gaining colour, eventually forming into greatly tanned skin. The end result was a female demon that looked like a human in her early mid teens, on her knees and with her head facing the ground Furry, fox-like ears hair, the same shade of scarlet as her waist-length hair. Seven great, white-tipped fox tails fanned out behind her, with two more covering her privates. She was kneeling towards Laharl who observed the curious sight with an arched eyebrow.

"Y… your highness… please… I beg of you… please forgive me for my taking your daughter's life," she pleaded in a shaky voice, clearly afraid. "I… had no control over myself… nor did I know her true identity," she continued to beg as her voice faltered, now on the verge of tears. There was little hope that she would survive, just as she had little hope that she would be reincarnated after being killed. There were very few things that could prevent such an event, true. But Laharl had been known to possess such a tool to do just that. But still, she kept clinging onto the smallest shred of hope she had that she wouldn't perish there and then.

All her hope came crashing down when the doors of the private room they were in burst open, revealing a certain redheaded, spear wielding nephilim. Her face held only a slight frown, but the absolute fury in her eyes was clear as they bore down upon the fox demoness. Said fox demoness kept her head bowed down, shivering occasionally at the killing intent that was being directed towards her.

Once Etna was close enough, she used the tip of her spear lift up the kneeling woman's face, meeting the demonic fox's frightened eyes. "So… are you really the one that killed Mira?" she asked, getting a hesitant nod in reply.

The black winged woman growled at the demon kneeling before her for a moment, right before swinging her spear onto the side of the vulpine woman's face, knocking her further onto the ground while leaving a bleeding gash in its wake.

Etna pulled the spear in her hand back as the Kyubi attempted to pick herself up, just about ready to skewer the one that had taken her daughter away…

But before she could do so, her grandson was already in between her and her target. "Grandma STOP!"

She looked at him, at his pleading but resolute eyes in bewilderment. And then she scowled further. "Get out of the way Naruto," she ordered in a level tone. A shake of the head was her response, and her scowl deepened. "That woman behind you… she killed your mother, Naruto. She's the reason you were abused so much. What reason could you possibly have for defending her?" she asked, restraining herself from putting any venom into her voice.

"Because she didn't have any control of herself during that time and because she's the reason I met you!" was his answer, surprising redheaded woman. Naruto, seeing that she'd lowered her spear somewhat, decided to press on. "Please grandma, she didn't mean any of it. Death said it himself; she was hypnotized by that Uchiha guy. He made her kill mom! It's his fault not hers!" he paused there, and was relieved to see that his grandmother's polearm was no longer poised to strike. "And besides… if it weren't for her, I might not have met you or grandpa."

That final statement made Etna drop her frown. He was right, in a way. She didn't know why he wasn't born with his demonic side awakened (or why her daughter's hadn't been either), but it was because of the Kyubi that it was awakened, that was probably true. It was a bittersweet aspect really: it was the Kyubi that allowed him to be found, but he was found because a mob had tried to kill him.

But her grandson's words were true, and while normally, such a thing wouldn't stop her from doing what she wanted… this was her grandson. Begrudgingly, she decided not to kill the fox demoness… though that wasn't to say that she would go without punishment.

Lowering her spear's head to point to the ground, Etna approached the Kitsune who had long since gotten up to a sitting position, her eyes watering as she looked to the seven year old child with immeasurable gratitude. Once more, the nephilim cocked the fox demoness' face so that their eyes met.

"Kasumi, correct?" like before, she received a nod, causing a slight smirk to form on her lips. "My grandson saved you from getting killed just now. However, that doesn't mean that you won't be punished for what you have done," she stated. Immediately a resigned look crossed Kasumi's features.

"I… I understand your majesty," she replied, her head downcast. "If I may ask: how long will I be imprisoned?"

Etna's smirk only grew at those words. "Imprisoned?" she asked mockingly, "oh no no no dear. You won't be imprisoned. No, you won't be able to properly thank my grandson for saving you if that is the case. Instead, for your punishment…" she paused, releasing Kasumi's now curious features from spear point as she turned to walk towards where Death and her husband had moved to stand. There, she looked back at the fox demoness. "You, Kasumi, reincarnation of Overlord Yami's ninth tail, are to serve my grandson as his loyal vassal."

A surprised expression crossed over the Kyubi's face at that statement, but soon melted into a relieved and thankful expression. "As… as you wish, your majesty," she replied, unable to say anything more to the woman, and turned to regard Naruto, who looked at her in confusion. She smiled at his innocence before her forehead touched the floor as she bowed to him. "As your humble servant, I thank you for saving me and pleading for me. Please, use me in any way you see fit, master," she said, confusing Naruto even further.

After a while, it seemed that Naruto decided that he wouldn't get any answers from Kasumi, and so turned to his grandparents, who now were both standing beside Death. "Umm… grandma… what's a vassal?" he asked her, head tilted to the side in curiosity.

Etna let loose a small laugh, "I'll tell you later Naruto. For now, I believe your grandpa and I were just about to ask Death over here about something," she said, turning to the apparition.

**"I suppose you two wish to know about your daughter then?"**

Both Overlord and queen nodded. "And our apparent son-in-law, if it's possible," added Laharl.

Death sighed at that, something that all those in the room found to be rather odd. **"Well, if you must know, both of their souls are currently within my stomach. Both your daughter and her husband were absorbed into the Shiki Fujin. Your son-in-law, because he used the Shiki Fujin, and your daughter, because she chose to have a part of her soul be incorporated into the seal."**

"Will it be possible for you to release them and have them reincarnated?" asked Etna, getting a slight grumble from the spirit. A pregnant silence followed.

**"Well… yes, I suppose that would be possible…"** Death trailed off as both Laharl and Etna both released the breaths they were holding. **"But-"** at once, the two stood at attention, looking straight at Death, **"Such an act is one which I will not perform for free. A cost must be paid for such a service. And I do not talk about the monetary kind."**

Two pairs of eyes narrowed slightly at that. It was Laharl who inquired this time, "What do you want us to do?". It took him by surprise when he heard Death's response.

**"Nothing. It is not you who must do this, but your grandson. After all, it is him who still ****bears my seal****,"** the wraith replied, gesturing with one hand to the still confused Naruto whom had been listening to them the whole time.

"And uhh… what do you want me to do?" the curious boy inquired, making himself heard for the first time in a while.

His answer was a book that Death pulled out from… well, he honestly didn't know, but it was being handed to him now. The puzzled expression on his face was enough prompt the Shinigami to give an explanation. **"I am willing to allow your parents to reincarnate. However, if you do not finish the task this book holds for you within ten years, I will not only take your parents' souls, but yours as well. Do you accept?"**

The question needn't even leave the death god's lips. Naruto had agreed as soon as he got hold of the book, getting an approving nod from the Shinigami.

**"Truly eager to meet your parents, aren't you? Very well. To make things easier for you, ****I will bestow upon**** you a present. Hold out your hand."**

Naruto did as death instructed and reached out, hands open and together with the palms facing up. Like with the book, Death materialized a strange orb in his hand and placed it in Naruto's.

**"That, young one, is known as Nether Reaper. ****It may not look it now, but it is forged from a fragment of my own soul and has the potential to become the strongest weapon in existence****. ****Drawing upon my powers over death, for**** every being that you slay with that weapon, it will grow stronger, possibly even confer upon you new techniques to use. Once you have been properly trained in the arts of battle, that orb will morph into the weapon that suits you most. ****As an additional boon, only those I, and by extension you, allow to wield it will be able to hold Nether Reaper.**** Use it well."**

(Flashback end)

-X-

Death had disappeared right after that. The only time Naruto had seen the wraith again was when he brought his parents in their prinny bodies about a month later. He would soon learn that the book was, apparently, a list of people in the Elemental Nations, each who had found a means to gain immortality, or supposedly would do so soon in the coming years. The task set, of course, was for him to kill them.

The Shinigami's claim about the Nether Reaper's ability to shape itself into a weapon suitable for its wielder had proven true as well. However, rather than one weapon, it had turned into two. Naruto had apparently a very rare combination of weapon affinity, being highly proficient in using swords and guns. The weapons were always upon his person whenever it was sensible which was more or less whenever he wasn't sleeping or bathing, and even then they were always within reach. Of course, given common demon arrogance, many had tended to make fun of him for having his 'toys' constantly with him. They contributed much to his training.

His grandfather wasn't kidding when he said that a lot of demons would be out to get him. Once word had gotten out that Laharl had an heir, thousands upon thousands of demons had tried to get in on the chance of killing him. Some so that they could eliminate a possible future obstacle in becoming Overlords themselves, others as a stepping stone, and in case of the dumber ones, in the hope of earning his title as Laharl's heir for themselves. Still, he remained standing up to this day, so it would come as no surprise to say that he managed to kill them all, not to mention gaining a good amount of experience. By the time he was ten, the blonde demon was already decimating others well over level five thousand with little difficulty, and his weapons just kept growing stronger. Even Kasumi herself was no longer a match. Amazing what three years of hellish training did for you. And that was a milestone he passed three years ago.

"So master, you got a plan for how we're gonna do this?" a feminine voice asked beside him, breaking him out of his recollection of the past. He turned his head to regard the girl.

The girl in question was a demon who appeared to be about the same age as him, dressed in the classic attire of a mage; her ebony hair giving away her place in their rankings. She carried a staff in her hand with six pairs of angel wings fanning out from its head. If one were to look close enough, they would've noticed that that the staff itself was like one long, wooden snake.

"Course I do. First off, seeing as it'd be substantially harder to just wander about the elemental nations, I've decided to go back to Konoha and join the local ninja forces. Since most of the people we're looking for are high profile ninja, it's very likely that we'll get more information that way," then he turned back to stare at the portal, a smirk on his face, reminiscent of a certain azure haired Overlord. "Grandpa and I already devised and implemented the perfect plan for me to do that with as little interference as possible. And to add a bit more reason for going back to that place, I intend to add the elemental nations into the Krichevskoy kingdom village by village. And what better way to do that than to start from inside one and use it as a front to attack the rest."

"So… you plan on going genocide on the entire world once you off everyone in that book?" the ebony haired girl continued her query.

An offended look crossed Naruto's face, though from his appearance, it was obviously fake. "Exterminate everyone? You wound me Charlotte-chan. Unlike the foolish idiots that make up the majority of Konoha, I am not one to act upon prejudice and destroy them all simply for being humans, even if I have been granted permission from Celestia."

For the third time, he turned towards the portal, a grin, once again, spreading across his face; one not unlike that which was usually seen on his grandmother, which had become a symbol of sadistic intent throughout the Netherworld. "Though of course, that isn't to say I won't be killing mass amounts of people. I'll give them all a chance to surrender, even offer them a little power, but if they refuse… heh, well, that's not really my problem now is it?"

The mage, Charlotte, looked at her master with a dry stare. "So in short… you're still going to go genocidal on most of them," she deadpanned, getting a shrug in reply.

"Oh lay off of master already Chary. It's not his fault most of the people there are narrow minded," the fur clad demoness opposite the mage chimed in; stopping whatever follow up was to come. "And besides…" she pulled out an old, tattered book, "after we use this little baby, they won't be so discriminating… well, at least not without discriminating against themselves as well."

The mix of mischievous and malicious intent in the demoness' voice sent a shiver of fear down the mage's spine. Now focusing her attention towards the female on the opposite side of her master, she spoke, pointing at the book in her hand. "Ka-Kasumi-sempai… th… that book… it… doesn't have… that spell in it, does it?" Charlotte asked warily, her fear growing a little when she saw the feral smile grow on her senior's face.

"You mean the Veldime curse? Yup. Naruto's cousin gave it to us. She got it straight from her grandfather, Overlord Adell's study. Don't really know whether she stole it or got permission to take it, but… ah… who cares, I'm not her vassal," Kasumi answered nonchalantly, putting the book back inside… wherever she took it out from. It was difficult to find out where demons kept their sub-space pocket openings.

Charlotte was just about to respond when she was stopped by her master's hand as Naruto turned to regard them both. "Kasumi-chan, Charlotte-chan, this is not the time for this sort of thing. Come on," he commanded, walking towards the portal. Goodbyes were already exchanged beforehand, they were no longer needed.

He beckoned towards the last two of his companions, both of whom stood on the other side of each of the two females.

"Agni, Rudra, come!" and so the two, both of whom were identical in all but colour followed their master. Their appearance was highly akin to that of a wolf, except perhaps, for the sword like horns on their foreheads.

One had majestic purple fur, with his underbelly and legs, a clear white. Flowing from his neck and hind were numerous long, strands of gold hair, forming a pseudo mane, and tail. The creature looked like it had all the grace of the wind.

The other one looked more intimidating in comparison. Its body fur was a mix of gold, orange and crimson, contrasting the azure fur on the creature's underbelly, giving him the appearance of a burning flame. The long strands of hair flowing from its neck and tail were jet black.

They were Naruto's twin mystic beasts, the pets and companions he'd found and raised himself.

The purple one, Rudra, was like all mystic beasts a creature of the wind; swift and agile. But the flame coloured Agni, was vastly different. Unlike most of his species, Agni had an affinity for fire, rather than wind, hence his name. It was actually what led Naruto to take them in. He had found them as mere pups on his first year in the netherworld, ostracized by their pack; one for being different, the other for being his brother's supporter. Likely it was only the very pack mentality holding the groups of mystic beasts together that kept them from being attacked.

They were, however, left behind after a hunt, and that was when Naruto had found the two, taking them in with open arms. The twin demon wolves had been loyal to him ever since, and as he walked through the portal, they were the first to follow, the two women not far behind.

The portal closed as soon as all five were gone, leaving behind an Overlord, his two wives, his prinnyfied daughter, and her husband of the same state. One of those prinnies turned to her true father. "Do you think they'll be alright on their own?" she asked the blue haired Overlord, who turned around with a wide, confident smirk.

"Heh… he's my grandson and I trained him personally for nearly six years. He's thrice Kasumi's level when she was made to attack Konoha. So long as he doesn't decide to limit himself too much, there shouldn't be anything that gets in his way," he replied, before starting to walk away.

-X-

(Konoha gates)

If there was one thing Kotetsu and Izumo could tell with absolute certainty, it was that gate duty was the most boring job a ninja could get, at least as far as Konoha went. There was never anything interesting that happened unless it was something that put them at the forefront of mortal danger.

That said, the two, unsurprisingly, went on high alert when a flash of blue light appeared right in front of the gates, followed by the arrival of three very oddly dressed teens and two horned wolves. Taking a moment to get over their shock, or 'assess the situation', as they would usually call it, the two chunin took stock of the new arrivals' appearances.

The one in the center, apparently the leader of the group seemed to be a malnourished-looking thirteen year old. A black, two-tailed coat with gold trim hung open from his shoulders, exposing his sunken stomach. The teen's hair was a sun-kissed yellow with streaks of, oddly enough, red and blue and spiked out in all directions. Two spikes in particular rose half a foot from atop his head like antennas and fell back down towards his back. They also took note of the sword handle poking out from his back underneath the loosely worn coat, along with the odd devise that hung on his right hip.

The one to his right was a rather odd sight as well, though she appeared more misplaced, rather than bizarre, compared to her current companions. She was mostly normal looking and about the same age as the boy beside her, but her attire looked like that of a classic maid in a cosplay café, minus the apron. The staff she carried was a bit of an attention seeker itself, what with the twelve white wings on it, easily as long as her forearm, but not as much as the wielder.

And to her right was one of the ferocious looking horned canines. Now, neither the bandaged chunin nor his bandana wearing partner were Inuzuka, but even they could appreciate such ferocious looking wolves. The bladed horns only made them more intimidating. The one they were currently looking at was the dark purple beast. They could almost swear that the wolf was glaring at them.

This immediately brought their attention to the wolf on the other side of the group; the one with flame like fur. Again, they felt as though it was glaring straight at them.

Finally, their eyes shot towards the last of the group; another girl that looked older than the rest, around fifteen or sixteen if they had to guess. She was a bit of an oddity as well. Her clothes consisted of a thick fur coat with a V shaped collar running down to her stomach where it met a fur belt just as thick. Unsurprisingly, it was another strip of the scarlet pelt that kept her ample chest from being exposed. A thinner version of the material spiraled around her forearms and thighs. And finally, there was a fur scarf around her neck that looked very much like a fox's tail, ending in a white tip. Even odder still was that the furs matched the colour of her hair to a T, as did the… ears on top of her head. The older girl was officially the weirdest of them all.

Their 'assessment' over with, the two shinobi looked at each other, shrugged, and jumped down to where the group of five had stopped and looked at them, obviously expecting what was going to happen next.

They weren't disappointed, as Kotetsu asked them the well expected question. "Who are you and what is your business here in Konoha?"

Rather than answer with words, the blonde boy snapped his fingers and before they knew it, the two lupine beasts from both sides disappeared and reappeared behind them. The chunin didn't even have time to react as they were tackled to the ground, the wolves' bladed horns at their necks.

"Kasumi," the blonde beckoned the fur clad girl who obediently stepped forward, "you know what to do."

"Of course prince," she replied, just as she crouched down, her hands cupped in front of her stomach as if holding a ball. The two chunin felt a slight pulse of energy come from her just as a greenish blue flame ignited in the space between her palms.

"Dream fire," she called out as the flame burst, sending out a blazing ring around her that touched the faces of the two guards. But rather than getting burned by it, the flames, upon touching them, made them feel drowsy. Not a second later, they were asleep on the ground, their assailants making their way to the Hokage tower.

-X-

(Council room)

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked on from his high seat as both the shinobi and civilian councils gathered in their seats, all of them sending him curious glances… or… well as close to that as they could in the case of Hyuga Hiashi and Aburame Shibi. Not a surprise, considering the fact that the meeting was short notice. Hell, even he wasn't sure about this.

A deep sigh escaped the aged leader's lips as soon as all the members had assembled. _"What on earth is that man planning,"_ he thought to himself, rubbing his temples with his right hand, he officially began the meeting.

"I'm glad that all of you managed to make it here," he started off, though not really meaning it. What he was about to announce may very well be a trap, but still… there was a lot of potential in it.

"I called all of you here for a meeting because of a rather… interesting letter I received just last night," he explained, the other members becoming even more curious as to what the meeting was all about, though annoying some others as well. "Now, before I disclose the contents of this letter, does anyone here remember that blue haired man who appeared here during one of our meetings six years ago?"

Unconsciously, all of the people present shivered in fear and for a long moment, silence reigned within the room as memories of that azure haired man came to their minds. No, none of them could ever possibly forget that incident. Their memories about the affair may have been a little hazy, something that the Yamanaka head believed was due to a memory alteration; one even he couldn't fix. But the amount of power that man beheld was unforgettable. Never before had any of them ever come so close to being killed, not even those on the shinobi side… and in their own village no less! That one man could've easily killed all of them on that day.

"Ah yes… that man. Krichevskoy, I believe was his name," it was the head of the Hyuga clan that broke the quiet atmosphere, "but what does he have to do with this meeting?" he asked, returning everyone's attention to the Hokage once more.

"It has everything to do with him, Hiashi-san. You see, it would seem that this man, Laharl, is the leader of a far off nation. And it seems he wishes to see if we are worthy to form an alliance with."

The announcement caught everyone by surprise. This man, who had unleashed so much power, was offering them an alliance. Immediately, many on the civilian council thought of the advantages they could get with such a deal. The shinobi council though, was not as easily drawn in.

"Do you think it is a trap, Hokage-sama?" asked Yamanaka Inoichi, the head of the Yamanaka clan inquired, putting the civilians on edge at the possibility.

The Hokage shook his head in reply. "I do not believe so. He even said that he'd be sending his own grandson and some others here to become genin. Apparently he will be the judge, as to whether an alliance should be made or not. This meeting is merely to decide whether we should allow his grandson to stay here and make his observations."

Many relieved sighs were heard after that. After all, if it was just children, then they could handle it easily. They did wonder though, how such a young man could've had a grandchild eligible for the academy already. Obviously, they didn't know who they were dealing with.

"Well… I suppose if it's just some brats then it should be alright," commented Shikaku the laziest of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, while most in the room made gestures of agreement.

The Hokage nodded at them. "I'm glad you all think that way, because that young man is coming here today, so we need to have an answer now," he announced, now letting everyone else see the reason for the short notice meeting.

"Everybody in favor?" all hands rose after the question, some swiftly, others hesitant. The Hokage nodded once more. "Excellent. Very well then, as soon as Laharl-san's grandson and his companions get here we'll tell them-"

*CRASH!*

He never got to finish his sentence as the ANBU guarding the council doors were suddenly thrown through them, tearing them off of their hinges and breaking said ANBU's bones. A group of five walked in through the wrecked doorway, immediately drawing everyone's attention.

The Inuzuka matriarch's eye darted quickly to the flame patterned beast on one side of the group to its purple counterpart on the other side, clearly intrigued by the obviously canine creatures. Some of the more perverted male councilors went to the redheaded girl who showed quite a bit of skin, despite the thick fur she 'wore'. But everyone else's eyes went to the blonde in between; Sarutobi's including, whom the boy looked back at.

Undoubtedly, he was Laharl's grandson; the odd body build was proof enough. But something about him was… familiar. He couldn't place his finger on it, but he knew that he'd seen the boy before.

It was only after the boy gave him a very familiar smirk was he able to figure it out. "Hey there old man! Been a long time hasn't it?"

-X-

And that's the end of that chapter. Thank you all for reading this far and please leave a review and don't be shy to make suggestions. To very helpful suggestions helped to pave the path to very important plot events in this story.

Anyway, I believe I promised all of you an explanation right? Well here it is:

The basic theory concerning the aging of demons is that the human to demon age ratio is 100:1 years. However, this doesn't make any sense when concerning Adell, who had grown to his teenage years with every one thinking he was human, as proved by the fact that he was adopted and had no idea of his real parentage. And seeing as that he's actually smarter than he lets on, then obviously he would've figured out that he was a demon just by noticing how he ages. Taro and Hanako are can also be used as examples.

That said, I believe that demons age like humans in the beginning, but go through a puberty like phase. But instead of physically growing faster, they grow slower. Much slower.

To spare you the detail, here's a flowchart version: demons grow like humans before a random age == they go through the process and their aging resets == they stop growing till the reach the century version of their age when the process begins (i.e. 1300 if 13 years old, 1400 if 14 years old, Etc.)

Kushina was able to reach the point where she could get pregnant because the process took place in her very late teens. (16-19).

And that's the end of that explanation. A late merry Christmas to all of you, and a happy new year.


	4. Chapter 4

Originally, I was planning on going back to my other story. Unfortunately, I seem to be having some trouble in getting the next part to come out in the way that I want it to. So to the fans of 'The wild horse mage knight' (whom I know at least one reads this as well), it'll be a little while more before that one's updated.

So, to give me something to do while I wait for inspiration to strike, I'll continue writing this one.

As usual, I own nothing but my own ideas and characters.

**Chapter IV: A deal with the devil**

Time branches out into millions of paths for all decisions we make. An absence of one can lead into a million changes. … How much did your absence change?

-X-

To say Sarutobi was shocked was an understatement. Naruto… his surrogate grandson Naruto… the very same Naruto he'd failed and lost due to his ignorance and hope towards the minds of the civilian populace… was standing before him and the entire council of Konoha. He'd lost the whisker marks on his face and his body had changed drastically, but that smile was still the same, and he'd recognize it anywhere.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE BRAT!"

Evidently he was the only one that recognized him, not that that was surprising. The civilian part of the council hated him to an extreme and none would ever have cared to know him, whereas the shinobi part, while having nothing against him, certainly didn't have time to deal with one child outside of their clan. Ironically, it was the same fat merchant who shouted at his grandfather years ago that had made the cry.

The Outburst didn't seem to faze the child at all. In fact, he was smiling. No, scratch that, he wasn't smiling, he was smirking, his face inclined towards the floor and a sadistically mischievous glint in his eyes that would put a certain snake mistress to shame. A spark of déjà vu hit every councilman and woman present as a shard of their altered memories returned to them. What would come next… they wouldn't enjoy one bit.

A sudden burst of power, dark, palpable and suffocating, enshrouded them as the blonde's posture straightened and a sudden air of regal elegance surrounded him. More memories of why the azure haired man had frightened them so returned to them. His declaration of being a demon had been no joke, and apparently, neither was the upcoming announcement from his descendant.

"I am the crown prince of the netherworld of Megiddo. His name barely registered in their minds, all they saw was a man who could bring them to the brink of unconsciousness without breaking a sweat. If he could do this while holding back… they could only wonder morbidly just what would happen were this child to ever get serious.

The civilian council was spared from such thoughts though, as by the time that Naruto had reigned in his aura, every single one of them had slipped into blissful unconsciousness. A smell of what should only rightfully belong in a toilet came off of more than a few of them, forcing the two horned wolves, the woman in fur and the Inuzuka matriarch to grimace a little; the last one only a bit more at ease. Suffice to say, whether they're going unconscious was a good thing or a bad one was up for debate.

As soon as the torrent of power stopped and the shinobi council and Hokage could breathe normally again (along with everyone else in the building), the blonde's introduction finally entered the groggy minds of the six seated clan heads. The five new arrivals found their wide eyed reactions rather comical, especially the one with sunglasses. They could almost swear that the white of his eyes had become visible for all of a second behind them.

"Uzu… maki… Naruto? Are you really?" Tsume asked, a little skeptical. The child certainly did smell of foxes, as she had expected… but then again, so did the other four; the fur clad girl especially.

Naruto gave her an annoyed stare. "Yes, it's me! You know, the dead last for the one and a half years I spent at the academy, Konoha's pariah, the local jinchuuriki. Look I know I look a little different, but geez, is it really that hard to believe?" complained the blonde, but none of the humans in the room heard the latter part. They all stopped listening by the end of the first sentence, shocked into silence.

"H… how do you… how did you learn about that?" Sarutobi questioned in disbelief. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out just how Naruto could have found out with the laws he'd put in place, let alone while outside the village.

At this, Naruto gave a sly grin. "Jiji, don't tell me you've forgotten? My grandpa said that when he came here, he told everyone that he was the Overlord. I assure you, that was no joke, nor is my being his heir. The biju had been my grandpa's eyes and ears on this world since they were created. You honestly don't expect him not to know about me or the other jinchuuriki do you? Hell, he knows who everyone of them is." That, of course, was a bluff. But then again, another one of his agendas was to get all the tailed beasts back and keeping other demons away from this dimension, so it would probably become true one day. After all, he couldn't have unaligned or rebellious demons trying to take over the Elemental Nations before or after he did now could he?

But still, while a bluff, the declaration had more than one purpose behind it, and it looked like the council fell for every single bit of it, hook, line and sinker.

"Yo… your grandfather… controls the tailed beast?" asked the leader of the Akimichi clan, making himself heard for the first time since the meeting began, fear obvious in his voice. Everyone seemed to be thinking along the same lines as they all tensed up.

Unsurprisingly, all of them were very relieved when Naruto shook his head. What came after washed all their relief away. "He doesn't control the tailed beasts, they just work for him. Kind of like how the ninja work for the Hokage, so long as they don't do anything that would completely anger their leader, they're more or less free to do as they please. And if you don't believe that…" at this he turned to the woman in fur, "Kasumi!"

"Yes prince," she replied with a curt nod. Then, with a wide eyed audience, all the fur covering her body unfurled, revealing nine white tipped, scarlet tails.

The reaction was immediate on both sides. Once the implications of the girl's appearance sunk into the collected ninja's battle hardened minds, they'd sprung into action, getting ready to take the fox demon down… and just as fast, they had once more been treated to a full blown youki explosion. None of them even managed to wonder why no other ninja had appeared as back up yet. All they could comprehend were their own gasping breaths as they fell to their knees.

"Tsk tsk… you people really should know better than to act up like that in front of me. Kasumi here, the one you call the Kyubi no Yoko is my vassal. I can't just let you try to hurt her like that… key word being 'try'. You couldn't beat her thirteen years ago when she wasn't in her right mind. What makes you think you could touch her now when she's stronger and thinking clearly?" said the demon prince, withdrawing his power once more.

Realization hit them hard right then, as the rational parts of their minds caught up. They'd just tried to attack the Kyubi no Yoko, a being that needed the strongest shinobi they'd ever had in their village and his strongest seal, along with his soul, just to stop it. And they also needed a new born baby at the time, who was now giving them a withering glare. And given the fact that they were currently short on babies and had someone possibly on the same, or possibly even greater, level of power as the Kyubi's in their presence on her side… well, suffice to say, if they made the wrong move here then they were infinitely beyond royally screwed.

Each of their battle hardened minds analyzed the situation as best they could, trying to think up of something to turn the conversation into a less insulting direction … and then something else he said caught their interest. "You… said that she wasn't in her right mind. Could you explain this part to us, Naruto-san?" Shikaku asked.

This question got a smirk to form on Naruto's lips, _"Actually giving us a chance to explain despite knowing full well what we are. It seems there are people in this village who might be worth giving a chance. I wonder how they'd take to being turned into demons. If they're really looking to strengthen Konoha, it would only be in their best interests, after all."_

"You all seem to be rather comfortable, dealing with demons as you are. Or is that perhaps because you only want the power of one on your side?" the blonde asked, eyes scanning each of them for their reactions. His smirk grew at almost unnoticeable twitches they gave, _"yes! It'll take a lot of work, but I think these people would be able to accept being turn into demons if given enough coaxing. Now if only I could give them a good example."_

"Very well then. Seeing as all of you are willing to agree, I suppose it is only right that I give you an explanation."

And so Naruto told them of the involvement of one of the co-founders of Konoha that night. How Uchiha Madara had orchestrated the whole attack. All were surprised at that, but as expectedly, only one of them truly fully believed the story.

"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Inoichi asked his fellow blonde, his face set in a doubtful scowl.

But even with that much doubt set on him, Naruto's smirk never left. "You don't. All I can say is that this knowledge came from the shinigami himself. The same person who helped the Yondaime seal the Kyubi inside of me."

Once more, it seemed Naruto had shocked the council speechless. The shinigami. Had it been anyone else claiming that, they would have laughed at his or her face. But current circumstances forced them to believe him. When they thought about it properly, even demons would be incapable of beating death itself (as far as they knew), so it would stand to reason that only the shinigami could reverse the effects of a sealing he took part in. The Kyubi's presence was proof enough.

"Naruto… just what on earth happened while you were away?" Sarutobi asked, unable to think of a better question to clear up everything.

There was no hesitation to answer, simply an unseen smirk. He'd been waiting for that question. True, he had expected it to be asked by the Hokage in private, but the fact that it was in front of the shinobi council would only work to Naruto's advantage. And so, Naruto started telling them all about the netherworld, his companions, or rather 'vassals' as he called them, and all he'd learned, minus, of course, the details of his human heritage (and the name of his mother as well). That… that he was saving up for a special occasion. It also became rather clear that he didn't want any of the civilian council awake while he told them his story, and had Kasumi put them to sleep as soon as they showed signs of waking up; even the advisors.

Naruto's summary of the past six years ended with the mention of the trial for alliance, the very reason he'd returned.

"So… you expect us to sign an alliance with a kingdom in Makai?(1)" was the question raised right after by the Sandaime, to which Naruto gave a dismissive shrug.

"Why not," he said casually, "it could only be good for you. After all, the biju work for us, and they wouldn't dare attack a place allied with grandfather. Not to mention you'd have stronger forces on your side should you ever be attacked. … That is, of course, only if I think your worthy of an alliance," he finished with a vicious grin.

There was no argument to those words. True, they'd be literally making a deal with the devil… or at least as far as they were concerned, but considering these very same demons could, with the resources of an entire kingdom rather than a single village, quite possibly field an army many times larger in number than their own forces., with some possibly even capable of matching the tailed beasts… well, self preservation tends to have very great effect on many a man's decision. Still, the last thing he said…

"And why, pray tell, wouldn't we be?" the Hyuga head inquired, a little offended.

At his question, all five of the netherworld envoys snickered… or at least the three humanoids did. The two demonic wolves on either side looked like they were doing the same, but it was hard to tell.

"Why, you ask? Well let me see: I was beaten during most of the time I lived here in the village, simply because I was a jinchuuriki. If we just went on with the alliance, they'd end up treating everybody else from Makai the same way," he explained, his tone making it sound as though it was obvious… which it kind of was. "Now, if that were to happen, then believe you me, this village would be razed to the ground within seconds. While the demons under grandfather's rule are willing to accept being around humans, they don't do well with discrimination. Even amongst us, such a thing is considered a horrible crime. And criminals in the netherworld are handled very differently, compared to how you humans go about it."

"As it is, you're all lucky Konoha's still standing. Gramps may have been one thing, but it took nearly all of his army just to stop grandma from coming here and vaporizing the place… if she didn't decide to torture you all to all levels of hell and beyond. There's a reason they call her the most sadistic demon in existence after all," he ended with a smirk at the shiver visibly running along their spines.

Those awake in the room prayed that a certain interrogator would never wind up meeting this woman, if what he said was true; and they had a feeling he wasn't exaggerating. They wanted to get information from their prisoners, not send them into a mental asylum… if there was anything left to send.

They were broken out of their frightened thoughts by Naruto's following question. "So, are we gonna do this or not?"

The Hokage looked towards the shinobi council for their response. Truthfully, this was something he wanted to happen, not just because of Naruto, but because, if the alliance was formed, Konoha would be far safer than it ever was before, should war strike. And he had no doubt the boy telling the truth. The shinobi council seemed to see this too, as each of them gave a nod to his unasked question.

Only one question was asked in return to the teen. "Do you promise to serve Konoha loyally, while you are one of our shinobi?" this was something mandatory for the Hokage to ask.

Again, Naruto's smirk was upon him. "Yes. But I take orders only from the Hokage."

With a nod of approval, the Hokage smiled. "Very well, then we humbly accept your grandfathers proposal. Follow me to my office so we may discuss the matter of your stay here. Dismissed," he concluded, just as the civilian council was starting to wake up, each of them thoroughly confused.

-X-

The double door of the Hokage's office closed just after Agni's and Rudra's tails had trailed past them. And immediately afterwards, the calm smile on the Sarutobi's face switched to a slight frown.

He walked past his desk, looking through the window at the busy streets of Konoha, his hands gripping each other behind his back. "I take it you know who your mother is then? Do you know of your father as well?"

For his part, Naruto remained neutral. He'd expected this after the events of the council meeting. It was pretty obvious the sandaime knew of his heritage. That didn't mean he couldn't try to give the guy a heart attack.

"Know who they are? I've been living with them for the past six years," he said, as if it were an obvious fact. The Hokage didn't think so, apparently, as he turned quickly in surprise. Naruto almost thought the old leader had turned into a marionette with how much his head turned.

"Li… living with them? How! I saw their corpses myself! I buried them myself! How could you have been living with them for the last six years?" Ah yes, that was another incident that he'd left out of his little story.

"Heh… are you forgetting old man? I've met the shinigami. Hell, my grandpa fought the shinigami! You didn't expect me not to have asked about having them brought back to life did you?"

The face of the sandaime upon hearing the news was priceless. Still, just so he wouldn't get any ideas about retiring now… "I mean sure, it wasn't free. I still need to take down a bunch of guys and give their souls to him for it to be permanent. They can't leave the netherworld until then either. Not to mention they don't have their original bodies anymore. But still, I managed to learn a lot from them about being a ninja, even a few jutsu."

That didn't seem enough to completely pacify the head of the Sarutobi clan, but at least he wouldn't think about having the two of them come back to Konoha. They'd probably tear the place apart, and he didn't want that to happen… unless of course he couldn't get any major forces in Konoha to join him, in which case he'd be glad to have his grandmother visit, and god only knows what would be left of the village once she was done. It was likely to be somewhere between nothing and a river of blood and decapitated bodies though.

"I see," replied the Hokage, finally getting over his surprise. There was probably no point in asking him if he wanted to make the information public. The fact that he skirted over this detail in front of the shinobi council was enough to indicate it. Still, this new tidbit of information left something for him to fish out.

"You said something about learning some jutsu from your parents?"

Once more, Naruto's grin appeared on his face as he held out his hand and from under his coat, palms open and facing the ceiling, as if holding a goblet. Slowly, a midnight-blue orb of rapidly spinning energy formed above his open hand, causing the Hokage to widen his eyes.

The expression on his face told all he obviously wanted to ask. "Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, if that's what you think old man. This is dad's Rasengan, a youki version of it. And this is only the version that dad created. I managed to combine this with grandpa's signature attack, and believe me, if I wanted to; Konoha would be reduced to dust with just that one move."

There was humor in his voice as he said that, but whether it was from amusement or because he was joking, Sarutobi couldn't tell. He certainly hoped that it was the latter though. If the Kyubi it… herself was submissive to him, it was pretty obvious that no one in Konoha would stand a chance against the boy. He only hoped that nobody would do anything stupid.

"I… see. Well, I certainly hope it won't come down to that," was all the Hokage could respond with.

"Umm… excuse me, Hokage-sama," the raven haired girl, Charlotte, as she had introduced herself, called out.

"Yes, Charlotte-san?"

"I don't mean to be rude and interrupt yours and the prince's business, but I believe the primary reason for our being called into your office was so you could inform us of our accommodation while we stay in this village."

"Ah, yes, of course," his business face replaced his previous expression of shock as he took a seat in his chair. "Well, seeing as you are its rightful owner, even if the knowledge isn't to be made public, I suppose it should only be appropriate that you make your residence in the Minato's home," he explained, pulling out a key from a hidden compartment in his desk before tossing it to them, followed by a map and a swiftly written and stamped letter. "I've made sure myself that the residence was kept clean and untouched by others until you were to be told of your heritage. While it isn't as extravagant as the clan compounds, it's certainly nothing to laugh at either. There should be more than enough room for you and your companions there. Just follow the map and it should be easy to find. The letter is for the academy, just give it to the receptionist and they'll point you to the right way." Naruto nodded, "Alright then. And if there is any resistance… well, I'm certain you will be more than capable of handling it."

And with that, he let them leave the office, which they did with a nod from their leader. Sarutobi slumped into his chair as soon as they were out of sight, heaving a sigh_. "I'm getting too old for this shit, especially now with this netherworld business. Heaven help us all if they end up getting angry at us… oh wait, they already have an alliance with heaven. …oh well, hopefully whatever damage he does is only directed at those who spat on his father's last wish. I've been trying to find a good way to clean up shop since he disappeared anyway."_

-X-

Naruto was generally considered to have taken a bit more after the human side of his family, as far as patience went. There were few things that would annoy him and he'd always base punishments on fair justice, something only strengthened by his time spent with the angels, the defenders of the earth and of course, his ever chivalrous cousin. As such, his vassals would always find it rather amusing when a lot of the female populous would stare at him with lustful eyes. It always seemed to freak him out.

While he didn't have his grandfather's childhood (demon wise) fear of big boobs –something which apparently stemmed from nearly suffocating from them as a ten year old– he certainly wasn't very comfortable about being the target of so many others' lust. And for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why many of the women in Konoha would act the way they did towards him.

Make no mistake, he was very well built, and showed it proudly; but that was more to ward off possible attacks from overly weak demons that would just serve to annoy him. He was also considered quite handsome… by netherworld standards, considering his grandfather's tribe of origin, which explained why so many female demons took an interest in him. His power helped in that regard too.

But these were humans, and as far as he could tell, looking like someone who hasn't eaten in days like he did certainly wasn't a very big turn on. Still, he wasn't going to approach one of them to ask about it. Not that he was actually afraid. If they tried anything, he'd just be able to plow himself right out of it, but this would bring quite a bit of unwanted attention to his person, so he simply chose to stay on his course; one he hadn't taken in six years.

Unbeknownst to him though, the two females trailing behind him were both giving off heated glares towards all the heart-eyed female populous of Konoha.

Finally, he and his companions reached their destination: the ninja academy. It was just as he remembered: cylindrical center, lots of branching areas as classrooms, three stories high, grey and red walls with guard rails on the roof, a wooden swing on a tree near the entrance. Nothing at all had changed.

"Well prince, it seems this is your stop. Are you sure you'll be fine on your own? We really don't need you causing a massacre on our first day," Charlotte inquired in worry… which party she was worried about was anyone's guess.

Naruto reassured her with a confident grin. "Oh don't worry too much, I'll be fine. Now, you four go off to pop's place and set everything up. I wanna train in the item world after I'm done with this place for the day," he ordered, throwing them the keys to their newest center of operation before walking into the academy, his hands entwined behind his head yet still somehow letting his coat hang from his frame.

Once they were out of sight, the two women, turned towards the direction of the direction of their newest base of operations, all the while ignoring the amorous stares of many of the male population of the village. Naruto wasn't the only one that attracted the opposite sex.

-X-

Normally, Mizuki's smile was just a façade he used to hide his distaste for the Hidden Leaf village. But now, with his plans going so well and the promise of Orochimaru's power in sight, his smile had become quite genuine; it just wasn't for the same reason that everyone else thought it was. Now all he had to do was wait for the genin exams next month where the Hyuga heiress, Hyuga Hinata, in all her self-doubting glory would fail and be tricked into stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing for him. After that, it was simply a matter of killing her, taking her eyes and then running off with the scroll and an unsealed Byakugan to his new master. "Heh, and maybe I can indulge myself in a little… pleasure, before she dies. Her body's certainly more mature than all the others her age."

He was just about to lead them out of the class for taijutsu practice, a caring smile hiding his scheming smirk as his hand reached for the door knob…

*CRASH!*

Right before it was slammed into the wall, crushing him in between. A pained groan was heard as the man tried to get back his senses, and failing miserably as unconsciousness took him over.

The reaction was immediate as all eyes in the class, including the teacher's, were drawn to the person now poking his head inside. He looked around at the mixture of curious and wary faces, idly noting some of the females in the class looking at him in much the same way as those outside. "Ah great… as if I didn't already have enough of those. Oh well, who knows, there might actually be a few gems in this class."

"This Umino Iruka's class?" he asked casually, staring at what was obviously the teacher of the class: a heavily tanned man looking to be in his early twenties with brown hair tied into a spiky ponytail at the top of his head, and a scar over his nose, garbed in the standard Konoha chunin uniform.

The man gave an unsure nod as he regarded the boy. Something felt… familiar about him. Still, he'd kicked the door to the side and ended up really hurting Mizuki, so he was still a little wary. Of course, it could have been an accident, but you don't become a chunin by making assumptions. "Yes, this my class. Who are you and what do you want?"

A wide grin was his reply. "Uzumaki Naruto!" the blonde proudly introduced, getting a plethora of reactions. Those in the class that remembered him looked at him in, some who barely did took on thoughtful expressions and those who didn't know him at all just looked curious. Iruka was among the first group. "The Hokage sent me here. I'm supposed to join this class today," he explained, handing the letter from the Hokage to the scarred instructor.

Iruka took the note from the boy's hands quickly and read through it. It was a clear order: Naruto was to join the class taught by Umino Iruka and was to take the graduation exams at the same time as his students; simple enough from the get go. The boy though… well Iruka didn't really hold a grudge against him, but having him in class would feel rather awkward, and that was without taking into the account just how much time was left until the exams. Still, orders were orders, and there's only one excuse to go against those from one's kage.

The brown haired chunin turned to the oddly dressed teen. "Alright then Naruto. It's good to have you back here in Konoha. We were just about to go and have the weekly taijutsu matches. You can participate if you think you're up for it… as soon as we… extract my assistant from the wall," he said the last part in an awkward drawl, looking past the black clad blonde and towards the now revealed door where the silver haired chunin was stuck in a daze.

He didn't look injured, save for a slight bruise on the head, so there wasn't really any blame to be thrown about, and from the surprised and curious look on Naruto's face, it seemed he hadn't intended for such a thing to happen either.

"Oh, would you look at that, I kicked a teacher into the wall on the first day…cool," he grinned, talking as if what he did was a good thing… which to him, it was; after all, defeating a teacher earned you a big grade at Evil Academy. Then he turned his head back around to face the teacher. "Yeah… umm… I don't think he's gonna be up any time soon. Can we just start these spars now? I really need a good warm up."

A sweatdrop came from everyone as they witnessed his reaction. Seriously, how the hell do you not notice kicking someone into a wall?

Shaking his head to clear it of the thought, Iruka once again looked at the downed man and he had to admit, even he thought Mizuki probably wouldn't be getting up for at least another half hour. He'd been caught off guard and hit his head –along with a good majority of his body– really hard. Heaving a sigh, he simply decided to go with the kid's suggestion, mentally reminding himself to inform the infirmary.

"Well… I guess… since Mizuki seems really out of it. Alright, everyone, you know the drill. Get marching! And there'd better not be any fights until we get to the actual sparring!" the teacher ordered, his eyes darting to two girls in particular; one blonde, the other a pinkette.

All of them complied immediately, some giving worried glances towards the silver haired shinobi, whereas others –mostly the least diehard Sasuke fangirls– sent a few very interested glances Naruto's way as they went past him.

The blonde prince followed right behind them as they walked to one of the larger sparring areas at the back of the academy. Having left before the end of his second year, Naruto had never really had a chance to see the practice areas used by the senior students of the academy. Now that he did see it though… he was sorely disappointed. The entire length of the field was completely clear; nothing like the training fields he'd expected to see. Hell, the kindergarten training field in evil academy looked ten times harder… and those were for demons that actually were more than half these guys' ages. In a field like this, the only thing you needed was power and technique, never any planning. How the hell was this even an academy for ninja –people who are supposed to use their heads just as much as their body– in order to win was a mystery to him.

No one seemed to notice Naruto's mental tirade though, as all of them sat down by the sidelines of the rectangular space. Iruka turned to regard his students, his newest one in particular.

"Alright then, seeing as we have a new student with us today, that makes your numbers uneven, so I'm going to have to ask one of you to have two matches today. Any volunteers?"

Immediately, a majority of the female students started asking a raven haired boy in a blue, high collared tee-shirt –Sasuke, apparently– to step up for it, and for once, he was willing to comply; two fights meant twice as many chances to improve after all. _"Tch… not like fighting any of these losers could really help me get stronger."_

Before the last Uchiha could step up though, Naruto had already approached the teacher, getting the man's attention.

"I'll go for it," he aid to the man, a confident smirk was on his face, one that could easily be mistaken for arrogance, "I need a good work out any way." That final statement seemed to make most of the class think it was the latter, and apparently, a good section of Sasuke's fangirls also thought it was a direct insult to 'their' Sasuke-kun.

Despite the slight clamor, Iruka didn't bother to try and tame the masses of young naïve girls but rather opted to stare at Naruto with a questioning glance. "You sure you can handle it?" he asked. Truthfully though, he was pretty sure the boy could. While his build was rather… odd, to say the least, he was still able to lift a sword that was probably as tall as he, as far as Iruka could guess. Add in the fact that the coat hanging off his shoulders hadn't fallen off despite some rather rough movements in navigating past the crowd of students and it either spoke of good chakra control or even better bodily control, both of which could give a big advantage in a any match.

Naruto's confident smirk seemed go a little more feral at the question. "Handle two fights? Against any of these guys?" he asked, gesturing to the plethora of students behind him, his amusement clear in his voice. "Sensei, if at all possible, I'd ask for a two on one against the two best fighters this class's got."

Now Iruka's eyes were narrowed, his face frowning disapprovingly, just as the complaints from behind the blonde increased in volume. If there was one thing Iruka hated in a person –besides disloyalty– it was arrogance, that was why he didn't like the Uchiha: the boy was quiet and a genius, but he also regarded everyone of his classmates to be useless in comparison; never working with them in teamwork exercises and always opting to finish everything on his own.

"You're being a bit arrogant there aren't you, Naruto?"

The boy's grin didn't even seem to falter. "It's only arrogance if it's baseless, otherwise, it's pure confidence. I'm pretty sure you would be able to say the same thing and take on the top two in this class. Perhaps with difficulty, but inevitable nonetheless. I may be a little egotistical, but being arrogant will only get you killed."

The statement truly did surprise Iruka. Indeed, Naruto was telling the truth, that much he knew. If he, or any other chunin of the same level were to challenge his top two taijutsu students in a fight, he certainly wouldn't consider it arrogance. He didn't know Naruto's skill level either, so it really might have just been that he was that good; and if so, this was as good a time as any to get a measure on that… well, either that, or teach him to be a little more humble, whichever one happened, it could only be good, and if it was the latter… well, one Uchiha Sasuke was enough for a single class and he'd also get the former as well.

"Alright then, if you're so sure in yourself, I'll let you give it a shot," the scarred teacher announced, surprising his students and causing Naruto to grin even wider. "Sasuke, Soren, looks like you guys are up."

The two boys stood up immediately after they were ordered, getting into the middle of the ring and getting into their own fighting stances as Naruto kept an eye on both of them. The Uchiha he had a vague memory of: the guy had just lost his family when he left and was hell bent on revenge from what he saw. "Note to self: do not turn this one into a demon for demonstrative purposes. Demons centered on revenge tend to be mentally one tracked and would just be a bad example."

The other guy he didn't remember at all. 'Soren' looked like a rather big for his age; the largest in the class from what he could see and was about as fat as any Akimichi without any of the benefits, likely just a guy who capitalized on his size more than anything else. He looked the part too: His clothes were slightly ragged to give him a more intimidating look, and he wore grayed bandages on his arms. In the very least, he was smart enough to make himself look tough, but anybody experienced enough would've been able to tell that all the signs were fake. He had decent stance though, so he at least had some form of skill. _"Oh great… I get to go against a big mook and an emo avenger wannabe in my first fight. Seriously, maybe I should give these a tutorial or something, just to make it more challenging… nah, only the main character ever gets the tutorial, and I sure as hell don't need it."_

"Alright then Naruto, since you're new here, I think I'd better tell you how these spars work," Iruka started, completely unaware of the irony. "You win here either by ring-out, knock out, or when I make a decision. Also, this is a pure taijutsu fight, that means no weapons, ninjutsu or genjutsu, so I'm going to have to ask you to place your weapons outside the ring."

Naruto gave an annoyed stare at the academy instructor, but complied nonetheless. He walked to the edge of the ring, grabbed the handle of the sword under his coat and slid it out without disturbing the ebony leather, revealing a deep, violet nodachi. The hilt was pure black and shaped like two crescent bat wings, touching at the tips to form a circle, contrasting the light grey, two and a half foot long handle.

As soon as that was laid on the ground, his left hand reached for the device on his right hip. How it was a weapon, no one in the room but Naruto himself knew, but it was still pretty impressive, appearance wise. The night-coloured handle of the weapon fit perfectly into its wielder's hand, getting darker as it rose to connect with the longer part of the weapon. Near the base of larger area was a ring, a guard of sorts from the looks of it, and a curved protrusion of metal where Naruto's index finger rested. The only part that could be seen clearly was rather intricate in design: a rectangular shaft, deep blue in colour and as long as the blonde's forearm with patterns of silver, crisscrossing over each other, forming the outline of a horned skull on each side. Those who had better eyesight amongst the students took notice of two holes present at the end of the apparent weapon.

Ignoring the questioning looks from all those on the field, Naruto returned to his previous position, getting into relaxed posture. His two would-be opponents both sent him a glare at the sight of his fighting stance, or rather, the lack thereof; his shoulders were slightly slumped and his arms hung limply beside his torso.

Iruka took no mind of this and merely signaled to begin the match. The rookie of the year and the largest kid in class both charged at their blonde opponent, Soren throwing a powerful right hook, while Sasuke dove to the side and tried to deliver a kick aimed at the back of the blonde's head.

Naruto, upon seeing their attempts… didn't even bother to dodge? Iruka stood just at the side of the ring, staring at Naruto oddly as his posture remained unchanged despite the two clearly connecting hits.

The blonde boy let out a snort in irritation. "I hope that's not all you've got. Seriously, I don't even think you'll be able to get my coat off of me."

Both of Naruto's opponents jumped backwards, their glares intensifying at the blonde's nonchalant reaction. "Care to try that again?"

With a growl, Soren charged at his opponent once more, throwing an assortment of punches and the occasional kicks. The big kid knew only the very basics from the looks of it. This time, Naruto decided to dodge each and every strike. He weaved in between Soren's limbs as they flew past him yet never in a way that it forced off his only upper clothing. However, despite the larger boy's failure in landing a hit, he couldn't help but smirk; the blonde 'coward' as he'd recently dubbed him, was just a few steps away from the edge of the ring. Even if he didn't land a hit, he'd still win, and then he could take down the Uchiha and show everyone who was the real strongest in their class. Just five more steps…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

And his smirk dropped there as the blonde boy stopped his fist cold, the shorter boy's feet just millimeters from crossing the white line. Soren tried to force the fist out of the other boy's grip, only to find his hand clasped in an unyielding grip. When he attempted another punch with his left hand, it was stopped as well. He tried a kick next, but stopped soon after when Naruto bent his hands back and tightened his grip, nearly crushing the fingers underneath it.

The spiky haired blonde looked bored as he watched the struggling human's face, before turning to look at his other opponent, who had yet to move.

"Aren't going to help him?" he inquired, a little confused. Konoha shinobi were supposedly all about teamwork weren't they?

The raven haired boy gave out a snort. "As if. Weaklings don't deserve my help. Less so if they're as stupid as him. I can take you down by myself."

Naruto's brow arched at that, _"okay, this guy's got problems. I mean sheesh… even demons help out their enemy's enemy, if only to get rid of the target faster… although who they help can be pretty random sometimes."_ Despite his thoughts though, in the world of the living, he simply gave an uncaring shrug, threw Soren's arms apart and grabbed his chin before lifting him up with effortlessly. The entire audience watched, stunned at the blonde's feat, just as he swung the larger student and slammed him right outside the white line of the ring, head first.

Nearly all eyes were wide, and certainly all were on Naruto as he turned around to meet his remaining opponent, who was also staring at him in surprise. Various thoughts were running through all the audiences' heads as they continued to stare.

_"This guy… where did he get that kind of power?"_

_"So… so strong. I could never match up to that."_

_"*sigh* troublesome…"_

_"Wow… I wonder if he'd mind doing that to a whole cow? Those things are really tough to turn on the grill."_

_"Whoah… not even Sasuke-kun's strong enough to do something like that."_

_"Damn this guy's good."_

_"B… big deal! Sasuke-kun could probably do that too!" __**"Yeah right… even I'm not stupid enough to believe he could do that."**_

"Well, are you just going to stand there or what?"

All were broken out of their stupors by the blonde's taunt, sending a halfhearted glare at his opponent.

Sasuke smirked. "Alright, you're good. Which means I'll only get better by beating you." He charged at the blonde as those thoughts crossed his mind, right after his opponent had gotten half way to the center of the ring. Once near, his right fist flew towards his target's stomach, only to reveal it to be a feint and switched into a back hand swing aimed at the back of the head at the last moment, which then turned into a leg sweep after the hit was blocked. A victorious smirk washed over the Uchiha's features as the hit nearly connected. This however, changed quickly into a howl of surprise and pain caused by the sudden stomp on his shin.

Naruto, just as the sweep was about to connect, had raised his foot and crashed it down once Sasuke's leg was right below it. There wasn't much power to it, barely even a fraction of his own. There was no cracking of bones to indicate anything getting broken. There was, however, the very audible cry of the last Uchiha as his leg was smashed into the floor.

Not giving the raven haired boy any chance to recover, Naruto took advantage of the blue clad boy's current position, turned around, and kicked him square in the stomach, sending him flying to where Soren had stood before, the air completely knocked out of his lungs.

The Uchiha only had time to stand up before he was put under assault again. This time, he was hit by a high kick to the chin that sent him flying into the air. Then, repeating his earlier actions, Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the chin and swung him down onto the floor, head first, sending him into unconsciousness.

Everyone gaped at him in awe and disbelief at the ease with which he took down the number one contender for rookie of the year. Even Iruka had to rub his eyes before he called for the end of the match. Immediately afterwards, an amalgam of screams calling for Naruto's disqualification came from a small part of the beaten boy's fan club. The rest seemed to either just accept it, or in some cases even jump ship over to admiring their newest classmates, arguing with the other group of girls over the validity of the blonde's win and shouting just as loudly.

Naruto ignored all this as he walked towards the two pieces of Nether reaper. With well-practiced movements, he sheathed the blade in the space between his back and his coat, while holstering the gun back on his right hip with his other hand.

His weapons back in his possession, Naruto made his way past the arguing females near deaf males towards the very back of the gathered students where he took his seat. Everything after that, he simply ignored. No one else in class fought in a way that interested him much, save for a few.

There was the boy with the pineapple haircut –Shikamaru, if memory served him right– who beat his opponent by, literally, tripping him, right out of the ring. Whether the guy was a quick thinker for predicting that, or whether the other guy was just stupid, he didn't really know, but it was the most amusing fight he saw.

The Hyuga girl he was more confused with, rather than actually interested. He'd learned quite a few things about Konoha's clans from his parents, along with how they fought. Jyuken, as a form of taijutsu, was barely limited in the academy bouts, usually giving the Hyuga clan members a great advantage over the rest. The girl –Hinata, from what little he remembered– had none of it. Her movements were far too stiff, as if she were afraid of fighting, and her form was generally horrible. Little wonder that she lost.

This second one interested him for a completely different reason than the first though. With the girl, he was more interested in the fact that she was unmarked by the caged bird seal, meaning she was a main branch member, and still did horribly in her fight.

As the possibilities of the girl's situation sunk into Naruto's mind, a wide smirk made its way to his features, unbeknownst to all those in the room. _"Looks like I just found the perfect opening. And so soon after I just got here."_

Let me clear a couple of things up:

1-Yes, Naruto is, to an extent, evil. He's the grandson of two powerful demons, what did you expect? Sure, he won't be outright merciless, but he'll definitely do a hell of a lot of underhanded things to get his plans to succeed, including taking advantage of a person's insecurities. He has his honor, having been in a lot of contact with angels, Flonne and the DOE, so don't expect anything really horrible, but he's not going to be all 'I'll let you go if you surrender' unless he's in a really good mood, or it's just going to be a disadvantage for him.

2-This story will be a Sakura/Sasuke/Civilian council bashing. However, while Sakura and the civilian council will be given the classic treatment (if a little altered in terms of the former), the Sasuke bashing will be taken into a different direction. Honestly, I like seeing him as an over arrogant, glory-seeking guy that's a general asshole, but I don't like going with that one in my story. Instead, he'll be much like the fake Zenon was. You know, the only overlord out of thousands that the real Zenon (Rozalin) didn't kill. Sound familiar to you?

Now, I received a review asking me about Naruto's power level. This is something I've decided to post here now so that no one else has to ask. I'm putting them in context of the levels in Disgaea without the reincarnation factor. Along with that is a list of feats that those at the same rough level will be capable of doing. Also, unless stated, the list assumes only those with average-genius incarnations.

-X-

Ability scopes:

Lvl-1 to 2 (Good for nothing): Normal human civilian, depending on health. Normal ability scope.

Lvl-1 to 5 (Useless): Ninja academy students. Normal ability scope.

Lvl-1 to 10: Genin to chunin. Normal scope ability.

Lvl-10 to 30: Elite chunin to jonin. Normal scope ability.

Lvl-30 to 45: Elite jonin to lower kage (A to S rank shinobi). Normal scope ability.

Lvl-45 to 75: Average kage to higher kage (As in Minato's level). Normal scope ability.

Lvl-75 to 100: Lower, untrained demons. Madara would actually be about this level as well.

Lvl-100 to 500: Average demons. Can take down an entire shinobi village solo. And not Pein solo, I'm talking 'solo' solo, as in no divided bodies.

Lvl-500 to 2000: Demon lords, when at their prime. The tailed beasts fit into this level. Can destroy mountains with no trouble at all, even the less offence oriented kind.

Lvl-2000 to 4000: Higher demon lords. Can destroy whole continents with little effort.

Lvl-4000 to 6000: Average overlord level demons. Can destroy large planets.

Lvl-6000 to 8000: Very powerful overlord class demons. The ten generals fit at the top of this level. Think SS2/3/4 Goku, depending on level.

Lvl-8000 to 9999: Top class overlords (Laharl, Adell, Zetta, Pram, etc.). Makes the universal spirit bomb look like a low grade grenade.

Characters:

Naruto- 7500

Kasumi (Pre-unsealing)- 1900

Kasumi (current)- 3000

Charlotte- 2500

Agni/Rudra- 2500

Well, that's all the relevant information for now. Other's will be revealed at a later date, along with special techniques and evilities. (By the way, is it just me, or does Gaara's native evility practically scream 'blood insanity?)

That's all for now. Thanks, all of you for taking the time to read this far. I'd love for you to give me your opinions, so make sure to review, don't mind criticism so long as it makes sense.


	5. Chapter 5

Other than the disclaimer, the only real announcement I have is that this is now officially a harem story. I'm aiming for at least eight girls on Naruto's front (a challenge for a new harem writer, I know, but I like to push myself) and maybe four or five for… well, that'll e revealed later. Anyway, moving on.

I don't own either Disgaea, Naruto, or any other franchise hinted at in this story.

**Chapter V: The first step**

All things lie in perspective. … He who refuses to believe in the divine, will never see miracles for what they truly are. … Those who believe demons to be nothing but evil will never change unless it is by their wish, ignoring all good deeds accomplished. … Those who see you as weak may never change, so why try to appeal to them? Show them instead how wrong they were, and let them try to say they are not… nothing is more satisfying than watching them fail. That is my perspective.

-X-

Naruto, Kasumi and Charlotte all watched on from a distance as the sound of metal hitting metal filled the air. It had been one month since they'd arrived and things were finally starting to get interesting. Nearly every genin in the academy had passed, Naruto included after he startled the examiners with a dozen kage bunshin. But there were still those who had failed the exams; one in particular was the reason they were in their current situation.

"It's been three weeks. Do you think Hinata-san will finally accept?" Charlotte asked, her staff held firmly in her grip as she stood among the tree branches.

The mentioned Hyuga heiress was currently lying flat on her back in exhaustion as her teacher fought the newly revealed traitor of Konoha. Iruka was losing miserably thanks to his injury, but he didn't once back down. The scarred teacher was determined to protect his student, that was for sure. He'd kept on fighting Mizuki even after receiving a giant shuriken to the back from defending a dead tired Hinata.

"With the current situation as it is, I would be greatly surprised if she didn't," was the prince's calm reply.

"How are you so sure?"

The blonde demon turned to his other vassal, a confident smirk on his features, "To be honest, I don't really know why, I just am. But if there's one thing I learned, it's that your instincts are the very first things you should trust." "Of course, there's also the fact that she's a bit like me, but I'm not about to tell them that. With how bad her life has been she would do anything to help someone who showed her kindness and meant it," were his thoughts as he watched the scene unfold, remembering exactly how he started to learn about the girl.

-X-

Flashback…

Slited blue eyes watched intently from atop a tree as their owner's quarry backed away from a group of angry peers, her pearly eyes showing fear.

It had been exactly one week since Naruto had arrived back in the Elemental Nations, and he was honestly torn with the results of his observations. On one hand, he'd found a great way to start his little plan to bring Konoha, and subsequently, the Elemental Nations, to their knees, and it was going great. He'd found a good opening in the form of the Hyuga heiress and had been gathering information on her for the past week, even hiring one of the netherworld's best recon moth men squads to do so and found his choice was perfect.

On the other hand, once word got out of his return, the village had started to annoy him to no end. On more than one occasion, he'd blasted out wave after wave of youki to knock out every single person that tried to attack him, attracting a whole plethora of ninja. They were given stricter warnings, so none of them tried anything out of out of line… openly, but even then, a few had still made covert attempts on his life. None succeeded, but it was still annoying. Even more so was the fact that the news didn't seem to prevent a majority of the female populous from staring at him like they did the first day. The Uchiha and his fan girls weren't very much help either.

But the cons weren't on his mind right now. No. Right now, his mind was focused on his shy Hyuga classmate some of the Uchiha's more manic fan girls were cornering. For what reason he wasn't quite sure, but judging from the fact that most of the accusations basically ran along the lines of: 'Sasuke will never fall for you just because your body is more mature,' he guessed it had something to do with an accidental exposé. Still, how they could come to that conclusion was a mystery considering Sasuke wasn't even here yet.

The Hyuga girl had nearly been backed into a tree when Naruto finally decided to intervene. "Why am I even going to do this? The more she hates most of the people here, the more likely she is to agree, so letting them continue would just be better for me. Argh… whatever. Despite his confused thoughts, Naruto jumped off the branch he'd previously occupied, getting right in between the group of frowning girls and their target, surprising all of them, and causing Hinata to fall down into a seated position.

"Stop picking on her, and get lost," was all he said, an emotionless scowl on his face before he turned around and extended a hand to the fallen girl, which was hesitantly accepted.

"A… and why should we, cheater!"

The shout was loud enough to make Naruto wince at the volume before he managed to turn around. It seemed that, to his misfortune, the spokesperson of the group was a certain pink haired… well, he didn't want to call her a banshee seeing as that would be an insult to the whole race, who were actually quite beautiful, contrary to common belief. Haruno was the only thing he could call her without completely marring the name of an entire species.

"I said GET LOST!" he repeated himself, blasting out a small spike of killer intent. The effect was immediate as the entire group ran. Naruto watched them with a satisfied smirk on his features as they fled. There was just something about making humans nearly wet themselves that satisfied him, whether it was an inherent want for revenge or his demonic ancestry, he didn't really know, nor did he actually care, it was still fun as hell when they deserved it.

"Uh… tha… thank… y… you."

The blonde's head turned towards the dark blunette who flinched away at his slit-pupiled frown. "Don't mind it," he started, turning his head back towards the long gone fangirls, "You know, you should stand up for yourself when those kind of people do something like that."

A surprised look crossed Hinata's face as she heard those words, before it was replaced by a downcast frown. "I… I… I could never do that. They're all stronger than I am. If I stood up to them…"

"They'd beat you; so instead, you choose to just let them beat you without trying to fight back. Now why doesn't that make sense to me?" Naruto cut her off, giving her a curious glance. He'd been watching the girl for much of the week he'd been here and knew she was timid and far from confident, but he didn't think she'd be this bad.

Hinata's already gloomy face grew even gloomier at her saviour's words, her head hanging low in shame. The level of self-loathing coming from the girl was almost palpable as she stood there, suddenly finding the ground in front of her feet to be the most interesting thing in the world. Her knees were even trembling and she looked like she was on the verge of shedding tears.

Naruto sighed, "You're not very confident in yourself are you?" he asked, getting a hesitant nod as his answer. "You really should get out of that habit. You'll never get any stronger if you don't think you can get stronger. The body's only true limit is the mind, after all."

"You… you make it… sound s… so… easy."

Naruto arched an eyebrow at her statement, looking back at the shy girl who was now poking her fingers together. "Do I?"

She nodded once more, again in hesitation, as if afraid of his reaction to her answer. Naruto only smirked, "Heh… yeah, I guess I do. But still, I really think you're wrong."

Hinata gave the boy an inquisitive glance, as if asking him to elaborate. When he didn't say anything, even as he gave her a sidelong glance, she decided to voice her curiosity. "A… About… wh… what?"

"About them being stronger than you," Naruto answered, getting a surprised look from the girl, but it was quickly replaced by a mix of curiosity and doubt. This time, she didn't even have to ask him for an explanation. "Look… Hinata was it?" she nodded, "Hinata-chan, it's like I told you already, the only reason you can't fight back is because you don't have the confidence to do so. If you don't start standing up for yourself, everyone's just going to keep walking all over you. You have the potential to become really powerful, I can tell, but you'll never get anywhere if you let fear control you."

Despite her slight blush at the choice of honorifics, Hinata didn't seem to brighten up in the slightest. If anything, Hinata' mood only grew more depressed at his words, knowing full well that she truly was afraid. She didn't know if what he told about her potential was accurate. In fact, Hinata thought it was way off, considering how her family always seemed to degrade her. "I… wish I… c… could be as… br… brave as th… those other g… girls," she said, her face once more looking down at the floor, which was why she didn't see the incredulous look on Naruto's face.

The sound of the blonde's laughter caused her stare at him in surprise as he held his head in the palm of his hand, laughing hard as he did so; she could actually see his shoulders moving under his coat, and almost swore that there was something else on his back other than his nodachi.

"You… you actually think those girls were being brave?" he asked in disbelief. It only grew on his face when she gave a timid nod and made him laugh harder, unknowingly making the girl more depressed. "Hinata-chan, those girls were letting their fears control them just as much as you do. They were afraid of competition because they feared you would take what it is they wanted, so they acted upon it in the most cowardly way possible: they ganged up on the problem to try and get rid of it."

He continued to laugh after that, a little softer this time, but despite his words, Hinata didn't look like she believed them at all. In the end, she was still depressed and staring at the ground, something that wasn't missed by the blonde demon prince. He stopped laughing as soon as he saw her doubt, his thoughts racing, not about her, but about himself.

_"Why am I even trying to do this? Why do I want to do this? She's just a human. Sure she's had a hard life here in the village. Not as bad as mine, but pretty similar. So… is it sympathy?" _he shook his head at his own question, though it went unnoticed by the girl behind him. _"No, that would just be ridiculous. A demon prince feels sympathy for no one. It… must be because she's so important to my plan. Yeah, that's gotta be it! I'm just taking this whole thing too seriously. I need her to become more powerful for it to work, that's why I'm doing this. It's the only reason I'm doing this kind of thing. … In fact, this is my chance!"_

"Guess that didn't help did it?" he asked, keeping cautious of his words; it wouldn't do to just offer things out of the blue. Her answer came in the form of an apologetic expression, apparently feeling sorry for wasting his time. Naruto frowned a little, "well… if that didn't help, I sure know what will. If you're interested, come to the top of the yondaime's head tomorrow after school."

That was the last thing he said to her before the bell rang, signalling the end of their break from the academy.

End flashback…

-X-

He tried to get to know her after that, trying to find out the best way to convince her to take the offer he made the very next day. He found out a little about her family and had learned quickly of all the things she was being put through, which only made him even more certain of the results of the current confrontation. "I'm sure she'll accept it, and she'll make a good vassal when she does. I always did prize loyalty after all."

-X-

Hinata lay sprawled on the ground, panting heavily and on the brink of unconsciousness. She could see Iruka-sensei fighting off the traitor Mizuki, even as black spots appeared at the edges of her vision and she couldn't help but hate herself even more.

This whole thing, all of it had happened because of her, because she was weak, desperate and foolish. She'd failed the genin exams earlier that day, having had second thoughts about each part and fumbling all the way. And now? Now her teacher was fighting, injured, against his former best friend, and she couldn't even do a single thing about it. She'd drained all her reserves attempting to learn one of the jutsu in the forbidden scroll, and she didn't even succeed in that.

She'd fallen right for Mizuki's plan. He told her to sneak into the Hokage tower, desperate to become a genin; to stop the Hyuga elders from placing the caged bird seal on her. They'd threatened to do it after they saw how useless she was. Her father, cold as he might have been most times had done his best to prevent it, but even he could only stall it when it was a unanimous vote amongst them. If she didn't become a genin that year, she'd be marked with her clan's cursed seal.

Oh how she hated that seal. It was the bane of her existence, of the Hyuga clan's existence; but the elders never saw it that way. At first, all she wanted was to get rid of it, but then her confidence waned even more, and once she'd heard of the proposal to place it on her, she'd grown afraid of it. She tried her hardest to become a genin, but to no avail. She'd failed, just like with everything else she did.

Then Mizuki told her about the secret exam, and in her state, she didn't even think about any possible form of deception behind it. He distracted the guards and she took the scroll and brought it to where they were right now. When she tried learning one of the jutsu as instructed, she'd collapsed almost immediately, blinking in and out of consciousness up until Iruka-sensei's arrival. She barely had any energy to give reason for her actions, but it was enough for the academy instructor to figure out that his assistant had turned rouge. Unfortunately, he didn't do it fast enough to take notice of the giant shuriken thrown at him until the last second. By then, he only had time to lessen what would have been a fatal hit before the airborne blade got him, barely missing his spine. The battle afterwards followed soon after that, with the silver haired nukenin coming closer and closer to victory.

_"I… can't even… be a suitable distraction. I'm… just… so useless,"_ she raged in her mind as she saw her teacher get pinned down to a tree.

_**"You are if you don't stop moping and start getting off of your ass!"**_

Despite her current state, Hinata couldn't help but twitch at the shout from inside her head. That voice. It was the only thing she could talk to as an equal without being shy about it. After all, who could be shy towards their own selves? _"I can't get up! I've been trying for the past minute! You're supposed to be my dark half, shouldn't you know that already?"_

_**"Duh, of course I do! That's why I'm going to tell you this now: just forget about being a Hyuga and accept Naruto-kun's offer! It's the only way we're going to get ourselves and Iruka-sensei out of this mess."**_

_"And let you take control? Why should I? You practically announced that you'd beat up most of the girls in my class once you were out."_

_**"Only because you really want to. You said it yourself: I am the dark half of your personality, everything that you desire, I desire."**_

_"Well… yes, but…will I really get strong enough to beat Mizuki? I can barely beat anyone in class, how could I possibly beat-?"_

_**"OF COURSE YOU'LL BEAT HIM!" her dark half interrupted. "Look, remember what Naruto-kun said about this: all we have to do is accept his offer, the rest will take care of itself. From then on, we only have to train ourselves."**_

There was no argument with that, that was exactly as it had been said. But… _"I'm… still not sure."_

_**"Come on, do it already!"**_ Hinata's dark thoughts commanded, and with good reason too: Iruka looked like he was just about to collapse.

Yet, despite the urgency of her situation, Hinata still hesitated; her mind reeling back to how the voice in her head came to being in the first place.

-X-

Flashback…

Hinata stood atop the monument overlooking her home village, just as the sun was setting on the horizon. She honestly didn't know what she was agreeing to, but Naruto seemed nice enough. He didn't strike her as someone who would needlessly harm others… unless they were behind doors anyway; those in the academy had quickly become wary to stay behind closed doors, having learned of Naruto's habit of kicking them open with extreme force every single time he was to enter. How the academy doors survived for so long, no one really understood, considering that most of those who had been hit were now in casts.

"Enjoying the view?"

The sudden question made her jump and whirl around, coming face to spine with an old leather-bound book and behind it, her blonde classmate. _"I didn't even hear him coming,"_ she thought in surprise, but shook it off and gave a curt nod.

Naruto's eyes shined with amusement from behind the book in his hand. "So… I take it that you're interested in my offer?" he asked, after a short moment of silence. A low 'yes' was her answer, causing a smile to form on the blonde's features. "Good, I was hoping you would be," said the blonde, lowering his book.

"Wh… what… exactly a… are y… you… going t… to do?" asked the white-eyed girl nervously.

"Nothing much really," was Naruto's reply, "There's something in this book that will give you a lot of extra power… only if you accept it, of course" the blonde explained as he walked past her, still reading his book.

"Wh… what kind of… power?"

Naruto's smirk grew upon hearing the question. "Well…" he started, clutching at one shoulder of his coat, then, with a fast swoop, the garment was removed from his body, right before two large ebony wings, at least as long as his arms unfurled from his back. "This kind of power," answered the blonde, getting wide eyed reaction from the girl.

"Wh… wha… what… ar… are … y… you?" was all she could stutter, taking a step back in fear.

"Me?" Naruto asked back mockingly, "why, I'm a demon, of course," the blonde answered, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "And should you accept the power I offer you, you will become one as well."

Hinata's eyes widened even further at his words, backing up in fear. "Y… you… you're… g… going… to… turn m… me in… into a… a de… demon?"

"Of course not."

The blonde's answer made her stop cold. He wasn't going to turn her into a demon? That didn't make any sense. Why the hell was she here then? She looked towards the blonde haired demon in confusion, her fear nearly overridden. Then, as if reading her mind, Naruto went on to answer the her unasked query. "All I offer you is power. I will give you what is needed to obtain it, but only you can choose whether or not to use it. All power has a price. Becoming a demon is the price of what I am offering you."

That statement brought her some reassurance, if only a little. But… the idea of becoming a demon still wasn't that good. It was a little tempting, she would admit, but she still wasn't convinced. Naruto seemed to notice though, and it looked like he wasn't going to stop trying to convince her.

"I can understand that you may not want to do this, after all, we demons are generally believed to be evil, aren't we? Cold, heartless… incapable of any feeling but hatred and the urge to destroy. All things that I've said are true are they not?"

She nodded at his question, hesitant as always, but it seemed to be fading with each one she gave.

" That much was obvious, I suppose… but tell me, do you know how most demons come into being? After all, if demons cannot love, how can they be born? Even demons can die with the passage of time despite living a hundred times longer than humans, and yet there are still zillions of us out there."

His statement seemed to bring her unease, but that was to be expected. Learning that there were so many demons out there, for a human… hell the thought scared the whole ninja council of Konoha, so it was no wonder the girl was afraid, too. She couldn't even think up a possible response when she thought about the sheer number of demons in the world. Luckily, she didn't have to answer at all.

"If you must know…" it seemed Naruto intended to tell her whether she wanted to find out or not, "demons are born from the souls of humans who have chosen to walk a dark path; those who kill needlessly, or steal objects excessively. We are, essentially, the darker half of the human world. In truth, all humans possess an inner demon, one who takes the form of their dark desires. The power I offer you now… is the key to unlocking that inner darkness. The key that will allow you to come in touch with your true self."

There was a long pause after his speech as Hinata thought more on his offer, and Naruto left her to herself, an expectant look on his face only a Hyuga could have seen.

"How… how wi… will I… I sta… start acting… after I've… been turned into a demon?"

At that question, the blonde simply shrugged, and honestly, she didn't know whether she liked what that meant or not. "It's your darkness. Your negative feelings. The very same ones that you repressed. Naturally, it should reflect the part of you that you've kept hidden. It would already be difficult for you to tell what you will be like. For everyone else, the task is impossible."

This reassured Hinata even less than the shrug. But still, if it was just her personality… it couldn't be that bad, could it? No, of course not... but still, there had to be a catch.

"Wh… what's… in it for… you?" she asked in her usual stammer, but there was also a defiant glint in her eyes.

"As soon as you become a demon, you have to become my vassal."

The answer was short and to the point without the slightest hint of hesitation. It was more of a statement of fact actually, which was why Hinata looked at him in surprise. She was about to open her mouth to protest, but the blonde beat her to it.

"Don't take that the wrong way or anything, you becoming my vassal is more of a necessity than anything else. Since you would become a demon in a land with very few demonic inhabitants, I'm the only person who would be capable of teaching you how to properly utilize any newfound powers you gain… or at the very least, get you to the right people."

Once more, Hinata tried to argue, but there was no room for it. She knew he was right. She wasn't sure whether it was her uncertainty talking, or whether it was the inevitable truth, but she didn't find room to argue.

"So are you ready? You can still back out of this. Even if you don't choose to become a demon immediately, this spell is still designed to bring out the darkness in your heart. It won't take you over, but you will suffer something akin to a split personality order."

His words brought only another thing to count into the equation of what she should do, and it took her a while to make up her mind. But in the end, she decided: "y… yes… I'm ready"

Naruto nodded in approval, not even giving any words of acknowledgment. Instead, he took the book he had in his left hand and brought it once more to his face, his other hand outstretched and with his palm open towards her as he began to chant in an unrecognized language. Slowly, a dark miasma of red and blue formed in his open hand, growing and coalescing until it encompassed his entire appendage. Then, without warning, it shot at her, and all she knew was darkness.

End flashback…

-X-

She'd woken up in her room that very same night, and surely enough, the voice of her 'darker half' had started acting up, trying to convince her to accept the proposal so she would be set free. Now though, with the situation as it was, it seemed there was no choice. _"I won't fail another time! Not if someone will die for it. Even if it means becoming a demon!"_

Her resolve firm, she reached into herself in the same way she reached for her chakra, trying to locate the demonic power that gave life to her dark thoughts, just as the silver haired chunin had pinned her loyal teacher to a tree, barely conscious and on the verge of death. The traitorous man was already halfway to the fallen girl when she finally found it, a sick smile present on his face. It disappeared quickly when an explosion of power came from his intended target, blowing him back a little. It was even enough to bring Iruka out of his haze, and the two chunin stared at the sight, one in alarm, the other in worry.

The two of them both tried to peer through the veil of midnight black energy surrounding the girl and saw her silhouette starting to undergo a change. The cracking of bones was heard, accompanied by shouts of pain as the girl's form grew half a foot taller and her hair extended all the way to her mid-back. Large protrusions sprouted at the sides of her head, curling upwards into pointed tips, giving her at least another four inches in height. Soon, the sound of ripping cloth was heard as two bulges formed at her back, bursting out of her coat half a minute later, accompanied by an agonized scream as they fanned out, revealing large wings folded out behind her. Another set of ripping sounds signalled the coming of a second new appendage: a slender tail as long as her legs, ending in a heart-shaped tip.

When the dark mist finally dissipated, both ninja could almost feel their jaws drop. Attempting to stand up where she had transformed was Hyuga Hinata, gritting her teeth in pain. Apparently, her height wasn't the only thing that changed, as her body had become extremely slender, completely devoid of fat, yet without looking malnourished. Her arms, legs and stomach were toned in the most elegant and alluring way, and her hands, while slightly larger in proportion than before, did nothing to ruin her allure. The curves on her body were all in the right places and her breasts had grown larger, in proportion with the rest of her body. The wings she'd grown were reminiscent of a bat's, the inner part the same colour as her hair –which was one of the few things that remained unchanged about her– whereas the outer part, as well as her tail, were a sleek, shiny black. The pure, white Byakugan eyes she'd once sported were replaced by lightly shimmering lavender orbs. But what really got the two men most of all… was the fact that she was nearly completely naked.

This was what distracted the two men as they stared at her body, although Iruka tried his best to pull his eyes away. It was also all the distraction the girl needed.

With an extreme burst of speed, the winged teen charged at the silver haired traitor, the veins around her eyes bulging out as she activated her bloodline, and connected with a devastating palm strike to Mizuki's chest that sent him flying, completely out of breath; all in just a second. The newly transformed Hinata's eyes widened at her achievement, and then even more upon seeing the damage she'd done to her former teacher, only for it to be replaced by a smile filled with mischievous, sadistic glee that would've been completely misplaced on her gentle features.

"Hmph… don't tell me that that was all it took to beat you," the Hyuga taunted, slipping into the stance of her family's infamous taijutsu style. "I barely put any chakra into that last hit! If that's all it took to take you down then you're not going to last for very long." Whether it was confidence or arrogance in her voice, neither Iruka nor Mizuki were sure, but the amount of it in that one sentence was especially jarring, considering the origin. Whatever Hinata had turned into it definitely made her more confident.

"What… the hell… are you?" the downed traitor demanded, gritting his teeth at the pain in his chest. As she'd said, there wasn't too much chakra in her last attack, so he'd unsealed his chakra points quickly, having prepared himself beforehand in case the Hyuga heiress actually mustered up the courage to attack… and yet, there still seemed to be a burning sensation where she'd hit, as though something was eating away at his chakra.

Hinata's smile only grew wider at the question, "Truthfully, I don't really know. What I do know is that tonight, I'll be a traitor's killer." She didn't waste any time after that, going in for a fast lunge once more, forcing Mizuki on the defensive as she attacked him with the speed of an experienced jonin. Unfortunately, not being used to her new body made Hinata's form rather sloppy, allowing Mizuki just enough room to dodge a majority of her strikes. She'd instinctively folded her wings inward to stop them from getting her way, but her new tail was another matter altogether nearly tripping both her and her opponent on more than one occasion.

Irritation was quickly making its way onto Hinata's features with every strike Mizuki dodged. For some reason, she found it harder to control her chakra as well as she usually could; likely an after-effect of her transformation. Whatever the case, it was making whatever hit she landed a lot less effective.

Things only went downhill for the winged girl once she drove Mizuki out of the clearing. More than once, the long, heart tipped tail on her rear had struck the trunks of various trees, smashing over half of the thick bark; it was rather difficult to bring her tail away from the crushed wood, slowing her down a little bit each time. The worst one was when the heart tipped edge ended up stabbing itself into one of the trees, forcing her to divert her attention towards removing it from its wooden entrapment.

This small distraction was the opening Mizuki needed. As soon as he caught his breath, the silver haired man aimed a full powered kick right at her stomach, sending the dark haired girl back into the clearing. He wasted no time following up on his initial attack, removing the remaining giant shuriken on his back and hurling it at his target.

Hinata, though having seen the attack before it even got close to her, also saw that her downed teacher was right behind her, making it impossible for her to dodge without the man getting killed. Whether Mizuki planned it or not, she wasn't quite sure, but she grit her teeth at him all the same. The Hyuga girl quickly braced herself for the hit, her wings folding out in front of her like a makeshift shield… only for her eyes to widen when her tail swung up and knocked the projectile from the air.

-X-

A smirk made its way to Naruto's face as he gazed at the scene of the battle. "Looks like her instincts are kicking in; lucky her, that would've really hurt if it hit."

His two vassals nodded on either of his sides. "True, I'd imagine it is rather difficult to merely walk properly after just receiving a tail, let alone fight with it. … I find it rather odd that she turned into a succubus of all things though," Kasumi commented, a hint of amusement and curiosity in her tone.

"Hmph… well then I guess for all your age and wisdom, you still aren't very smart, are you senpai?" Charlotte jibed with a smirk, earning a sharp glare for her efforts. "Succubi, while generally very sensual and outgoing –the complete opposite of Hyuga-san's personality– also possess a second, less well known trait among all of them: they are just as much demons of love as they are of lust, and so they crave to sate both. When you take into account her personal life, it shouldn't be surprising that she wants to be loved, having had little of that her whole life. The fact that she's a female only influences it even more."

"That's probably the case, seeing as the Veldime curse uses the target's inner personality as the deciding factor for what species of demon they'll become," Naruto concluded, nodding in approval, and caused the mage to send a victorious smirk at her senior; an even harsher glare than before was returned the magician's way, this time accompanied by a growl.

"Hey now, stop fighting you two. I want to see how this fight turns out," the demon prince commanded, not taking his eyes off the unfolding scene as Hinata continued her previous attack, now utilizing her tail as well to take down her former teacher. Said teacher was unfortunately doing better as well. The guy had taken some sort of drug when Hinata had been distracted by her analysis, that had transformed him into some sort of man/tiger hybrid, but unlike Hinata, there was no youki emanating from him. "Hmm… how curious. Guess I'm going to have to take a page out of headmaster Mao's book for this one."

-X-

Hinata stared at the long violet appendage in disbelief. The tail she had at first thought as nothing but a hindrance had just ended up saving her and her loyal teacher's lives._"Talk about irony. Maybe I'll be able to save the Hyuga clan like that as well. Lord knows the elders are just destroying us by keeping up with these old traditions."_

A smirk quickly played over her face as she turned her full attention to just what her new tail could do, already going through the implications of its previous performance. "Let's see: it can smash through an entire foot of wood from Konoha's forest even without chakra," she gave a few trial swings with it, concentrating a little to make it move to her will; she thanked her luck that Mizuki seemed to be thinking hard on something. She smiled at the results she got from her experiment. "Very flexible, though that should be expected. It's lighter than it looks when I really think about it, and it isn't really all that hard to control. I think I'll be able to use this just fine."

She was brought out of her analytic musings as a sinister chakra filled the air, getting both her and Iruka's attention, though the latter had to quickly avert his eyes due to his student's barely covered back. The origin of the malevolent energy was none other than Mizuki, who seemed to be hunched over, trembling in what looked to be pain. Hinata hadn't focused on him much the last few seconds, so she didn't quite get what he had done; the bottle by his feet was a pretty good indication though.

The midnight-haired girl watched with narrowed eyes as the traitor underwent a transformation of his own. His muscles bulged out, getting thicker and thicker, as did his hands and feet; tearing his through clothes and reducing them to shreds. His nails grew into long claws glinting in the sparse moonlight. Fur started to grow all over the man as his eyes grew manic; his face contorting a little, the jaws extending to make him resemble a perverse fusion of man and beast. Streaks of black fur grew within a background of deep orange on most of his body while his stomach and chest, along with his jaw were covered in dark brown fur.

By the time he was done, Mizuki looked more like the bad result of an act of bestiality than an actual human. Hinata was sure he would have towered over her by a great deal, now nearly twice her height… while he was hunched over! A mad grin appeared on the deformed man's fang filled jaws as he stared at her with eyes that shined with insanity.

He was trying to intimidate her, hoping to get the upper hand through fear, but Hinata didn't falter. Instead, the succubus kicked off the ground with a mighty shove, diving forward while spreading out her wings, just enough to let her glide a little, but not enough to get caught in the trees. How she knew to use them, she wasn't quite sure, simply opting to follow her instinct, and the result was satisfactory: once she kicked off, Hinata had cocked her hand back, the palm open and preparing for a strike, prompting the traitor to get ready to block. He was caught completely off guard when she swerved to his side, getting behind him before he could even react, right before her tail swerved sidewards when she turned upon her landing, leaving a deep cut going from his abdomen to his hip.

Mizuki hissed in pain at the bleeding gash, followed by a growl of anger. The hybrid turned around quickly, attempting to land a hit of his own by swinging his right arm into a backhand, only to let out another enraged growl as the girl jumped high into the air, fanning out her wings. A claw swipe from his other hand was dodged as well when the Hyuga leaned back in midair, performing an aerial somersault that made her tail move into an upward slash, cutting into the offending arm.

Hinata landed after that, the veins around her eyes flaring as demonic chakra flowed into her hands, surrounding them with a shroud of dark pink light. She charged at the beast before her before he could recover from her previous attack, slamming her hands into his still bleeding arm, hitting as many of its tenketsu as she could before jumping back to dodge his counterattack.

The tiger-like man's left arm was useless now, flooded with too much youki to function while the abomination's mind was too hazed with rage to remove the blocks. With a roar of fury, Mizuki lifted his only useful arm and brought it down with extreme force, crushing the rock beneath it, but not his intended target who had jumped back once more, just in time to keep her out of harm's way.

Hinata levelled a glare at the creature before her. She'd hit him already, numerous times in fact, and yet he didn't look tired in the least. On the other hand, she had barely suffered any damage during the fight, but she was already winded!

With an annoyed huff, the winged girl took to the air once more; while she couldn't yet fly, gliding was something she found to be extremely easy and took advantage of it as much as she could, getting her a safe distance away from the beast, forcing her opponent to chase after her and leading him away from Iruka's location. "Alright then, this should at least make sure that he won't be able to get to Iruka-sensei any time soon. Let's try out something new then."

Taking advantage of Mizuki's slowed pace from being cramped by the trees, Hinata started concentrating nearly all her chakra to her tail, giving it the same dark pink glow as her hands. She reached into what little remained of her pants, thanking her luck that her tool pouch hadn't fallen off and grabbed a few smoke bombs and chucked them at the hulking monstrosity. She jumped into the cover of smoke before her enemy could get away, manoeuvring behind him to ensure her attack wasn't blocked. Once in position, her tail coiled up and lashed out like a snake, all in the span of a second, in an attempt to stab her target.

She wasn't quite sure what attacking with a chakra infused tail would do. She was aiming to pierce the creature's heart, only to realize too late that she was too far off to hit. Imagine her surprise when the appendage blasted out a stream of power right through the man's chest where his heart would have been. A final roar of agony was heard from the beast before it fell to the ground, dead; the resulting winds caused by the fall blowing away the smoke.

Hinata stared wide eyed at the fallen form of her former teacher as his body slowly deteriorated back to his normal form, and even more after when he started to wrinkle like an old man. Her gaze quickly shifted towards her still outstretched tail, then back to the downed Mizuki, and then back to her tail once more, blinking numerous times; unable to comprehend what had just happened. She stood up straight soon after as realization of her first kill finally hit her. Her mind was in a daze. Part of her was shocked to the core by her actions and felt extreme levels of regret; yet another part of her felt that it was for the best. What scared her most of all though, was the part of her that actually… liked killing her former teacher. It wasn't very big, however, slowly but surely it was growing. She could feel the elated glee slowly creeping through her mind as she watched the man… and then she passed out from exhaustion, spared from these odd new sensations as her adrenaline rush finally died down.

Not seconds later, Naruto, Kasumi and Charlotte appeared in the clearing, surrounding the fallen succubus.

"She did rather well for her first time using her new powers in a fight," Kasumi commented, getting nods of agreement from the other two.

"True… though I'm pretty sure that last one was an accident," Charlotte added.

"Either way, it doesn't matter. The first step is complete. Now all that's left is to convince the Hokage to let her become a genin." Naruto paused for a moment, picking up the fallen girl. He signalled to his left at a seemingly empty part of the forest, only for his two remaining vassals to jump out of the shrubbery. "Kasumi-chan, Charlotte-chan, go take care of Iruka-san, put him to sleep and bring him to the Hokage tower; heal him along the way. Agni, Rudra, you two know what to do."

Upon his orders, all four of his vassals nodded; the first two dashing off to the downed chunin and the lupine twins releasing their youki. With flash of dark light, the two demonic hounds transformed into orbs of power before melding with one another, causing another burst of energy as a being took shape.

In place of the two netherworld wolves was now a much larger mystic beast, roughly the size of a great stallion. It's underbelly was covered with sky blue fur, and the rest of its body a burgundy striped royal purple. It's tail, like it's master's coat, was mostly black, but with golden streaks. But the most eye-catching feature of the beast was the fact that it had two separate heads, each one with its own bladed horn, shining in the light of the moon.

Naruto nodded at the twin headed wolf, hefting up Hinata's unconscious body and placing her on the fused beasts' back before getting on himself. "Alright Indra, bring us to the Hokage tower, ASAP."

And just like that, the titanic wolf seemed to blur out of existence as a wave of heated air trailed behind him, heading towards its destination.

-X-

CUT! And that's a wrap. Well folks, there you go, the fifth chapter to Disgaea: Dawn of a new Darkness. Hope you all enjoyed this little piece of work. If you did, then you're going to love what's going to come up.

What did you think of Hinata's transformation? The whole thing was inspired by brown phantom's story 'He will be mine', a great fic that I recommend to all NaruHina fans out there. A romance with a much edgier Hinata that isn't afraid to put someone disturbing her Naruto time in their place, even going so far as to mentally torture them. And this one actually _has_ a good reason for it too.

But enough about that, onto other matters. There's going to be a lot of demonizing going about through the story, though mass effects aren't going to be happening any time soon. What I'm worried about is the next one I'm planning. So tell me readers, what should I turn Shino into? I know that there's already the Moth men, but I find that those guys would be much better for his insects, and I do have a good plan for that part. But then, if I eliminate them, I don't have anything I can turn Shino into. I want him to be an insect like demon, so if possible, could you send in any ideas for features. You can even use characters or creatures from other sources (games, anime, manga, etc.). A picture would be nice too if you can PM a link to me.

Anyway, here's an update on the power chart (refer to chapter four for the ability scopes):

Naruto- 7000 (made a mistake here last time. It was suppose to be this level, but I was sleepy then and pressed '5' by accident)

Hinata (post transformation)- 25

Mizuki (post transformation)- 30 (useless)

Indra (Magichange: Agni + Rudra)- 3000

Remember, this chart doesn't refer completely to the Disgaea games, it simply refers to their actual power level, put into perspective of the Disgaea level system. Oh, and yes, two monsters can Magichange as of Disgaea 4 (yet to be released, but I believe the feature has been confirmed) the only reason Indra has two heads is because they aren't _completely _the same, but enough to allow it. Naruto refers to them as Indra so he just has to say one name without confusing the two.

R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

And I'm back. Welcome readers to the fifth instalment of Disgaea: Dawn of a new Darkness. I'm sad to announce to all readers out there that, unfortunately, some of our brothers and sisters have left from the road of reading this story upon the implication of Hinata being in Naruto's harem. To those that have simply left, even if you aren't reading this, I thank you for showing enough respect as to simply leave. For those that had to go and insult Hinata before they left: FUCK YOU!

Also, a bit of an important note: while Naruto turning Hinata into a demon might have been a seen as the biggest implication, among many, that she'd be part of his harem, I'd like to make it perfectly clear that not _**EVERY**_ girl he turns will be part of it. Were we to go by that logic, he'd get every single woman in the elemental nations by the story's end (yes, that was a spoiler. Not that most of you will probably remember it by then. It's gonna be a long fic), including the really old ones… though considering how demons age… they might not look that old anymore after that. Plus, the age difference won't be much of an issue (Hell, Laharl is married to Etna, who is roughly a _century_ older than he is, who is younger by _another_ century to Flonne).

There, now that I've gotten that out of my system, let us continue. … No, I still own nothing.

**Chapter VI: Downhill first day**

Hinata- Human philosophers once said: if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back into you... Why is this considered a bad thing? If the abyss is a part of you, should you not strive to understand it? Especially if the experience makes you stronger. Darkness is not always evil... in fact, it ever is. It is those that use it who often become mad with power. To accept your darkness... to accept everything about yourself... that is the true path to power... my new path to power. -Submitted by Kelenas-

-X-

Hiashi stood in the Hokage's office, staring at the barely clothed form of a winged girl as she lay on one of the couches, his face set to an even deeper scowl than usual. "Is this your idea of a joke, Uzumaki?" he asked, not even turning towards the boy with blue streaked blonde hair.

"Nope, no joke," Naruto simply replied, sitting languidly in a chair, the sword half of the Nether Reaper unsheathed and resting behind the furniture, "I already told you when you first came in here: Hinata is now a demon, a succubus to be exact, and she became one of her own free will"

The Hyuga head's scowl deepened. "And I suppose there is something you've gained from this?" he asked, seething in barely restrained anger.

"She is to become my vassal. But like I told her before: while she will become my vassal, it is only as a necessity. She needs to learn how to use her new powers and muscles ; her wings and tail to be exact. Without a teacher, she'd likely either kill herself trying to learn how to fly or take years to learn what could be mastered in a week."

"Can she be turned back?" Hiashi inquired in a calmer voice, but Naruto wasn't fooled. The man still held an irate expression on his face, more so than normal. He didn't want to know if she could be turned back, he wanted her turned back.

The demon prince shook his head. "Not unless she and I both want her to. The method of demonization I used on her is tied to both caster, and target. It can only be reversed at a moment where the caster no longer wills it to be active and the transformed no longer wishes to be a demon. Those that fully accept it hardly ever turn back into humans."

Once more, the frown on Hiashi's face grew angrier, this time completely breaking his mask of indifference. "You expect me to just accept this?"

"Not really," Naruto replied, shrugging, "though I would think that you'd find it favorable."

"And why exactly would that be?"

Naruto smirked at that question. "I understand that Hinata was threatened of having your clan's caged bird seal placed upon her correct?" he asked, taking satisfaction as the pale eyed man was taken aback in surprise.

"H… how did you? …"

"I have some very good spies at my disposal, Hyuga-san. Do not underestimate a demon prince's resources. There are some things in this world that not even your eyes can see… though now I wonder about hers," answered the demon prince, gaining a curious glance from the two humans present in the room.

"What do you mean by that, Naruto?" the aged leader asked, speaking for the first time since the arrival of the netherworld prince and his entourage.

The blonde demon turned his gaze from the Hyuga head towards the Hokage, but it wasn't him who answered. "The abilities she had as a human have likely been greatly altered by her transformation," explained Charlotte who sat at Naruto's left, directing all human eyes to her.

"A common occurrence when it comes to turning humans into demons is that, in most processes, the transformed human will not only keep any sort of special ability they possessed, but will also have it enhanced and, or altered due to the natural power increase," she continued. "For example, while it was no difficult feat to have Unknown level Moth men sneak into the Hyuga compound, despite their coveted Byakugan, to attempt to do so while Hinata-san is using her empowered Byakugan would likely result in failure. In fact, it is very likely that any and all weaknesses of the original Byakugan have been eliminated from her demon enhanced version."

That fact seemed to have dampened Hiashi's anger somewhat, his body relaxing a little. "So… her Byakugan became stronger?" he asked, more for confirmation than a lack of understanding.

"Not just her Byakugan," it was Kasumi that answered this time, making the two clan heads stiffen a bit, "she's gotten stronger herself; more confident too," she elaborated. "I assume that since you arrived here before we did that someone informed you of your daughters involvement in the recent theft of the scroll?"

The black haired man nodded. "I was told that she had been tricked by one of her instructors to steal it, and later transformed-"

"And managed to beat Mizuki on her own, even after he himself transformed… though as to what he transformed into, or how for that matter, I'll never know," Naruto finished, and by the surprised look on the clan head's face, it seemed that he wasn't made aware of that last part yet.

"Is this true, Hokage-sama?" Hiashi asked as he turned to the older man, receiving a nod in return.

"Yes, it is. I was rather surprised myself, in fact," admitted the Hokage. "Hinata had trouble at first, thankfully while Mizuki was still normal; likely she would have finished him off had it not been for her new… appendages. She seemed to have gotten more used to them during Mizuki's transformation, and managed to kill him mere minutes after… right before you entered, in fact."

"Your crystal ball?" Naruto asked offhandedly; there was no need to explain what he meant as the Hokage nodded in reply. The blonde prince turned back towards Hiashi. "And there's your confirmation."

For a moment, a contemplative look crossed Hiashi's face, before it turned once more into a scowl, "all that aside, I fail to see how any of this has anything to do with the caged bird seal," he said, bringing the conversation back on topic. "You said that I would find this situation to my liking, and that it has something to do with having the caged bird seal placed upon my eldest. Regardless of everything mentioned, I fail to see the connection."

"So you still don't get it?" Naruto asked, his amusement clear in his tone, looking straight at Hiashi's face with fake curiosity, "you are aware that your daughter only went with this whole idea because she was desperate to become a genin right? She failed the test after all."

The white eyed man nodded. "And becoming a genin was the only way she could avoid having the caged bird seal placed on her, correct?" Naruto continued, getting another nod from the Hyuga head. This time, Naruto nodded as well, as if something he knew was just confirmed. "And this was a condition you yourself imposed," he stated, "For all your indifference, you really don't want either of your children to have the caged bird seal placed upon them do you?"

And for the third time, Hiashi nodded to the demon prince's question; this time with great hesitance. A smirk spread across Naruto's face at the sight, _"just a little more."_

"Then in that case I can put your mind at ease and tell you that it is impossible to mark her with the caged bird seal," the demon prince announced, much to the confusion of the two clan heads.

"Naruto… what are you talking about?" Sarutobi asked him, completely puzzled.

Naruto's smirk only grew as he directed his eyes towards the leader of the leaf. "Jiji, according to Konoha laws, anybody taken as an apprentice of a registered ninja can be registered as ninja themselves, right?"

Those words started turning gears in the fire shadow's head as he tried to figure out what it was that the genin was planning, and finally, it clicked into place as a frown appeared on the old man's features. "Naruto, only jonin fit that rule-"

"In practice," the demon prince cut in, crossing his arms as he focused his stare towards the Hokage. "Only a jonin would have the knowledge and experience necessary to take on an apprentice and train them in the ninja arts, or in the very least a tokubetsu jonin," he started to elaborate, now pointing towards the still unconscious girl, "Hinata however, will become my apprentice in the demonic arts. She needs to properly learn how to utilize her new wings and tail, her youki, not to mention the natural abilities of the succubi themselves." _"And how to properly use mana, but they don't know anything about that stuff yet. Better to keep it a secret until later." _

"But, even if she isn't my apprentice in being a ninja, I still am a ninja, and she will still be my apprentice, so the rules still apply. What's more, not only does this fix Hyuga-san's dilemma concerning his daughters, it also fixes the academy's problem of being one graduate short for team placements," Naruto finally concluded, sitting back down in a relaxed position.

For a moment, all the information sunk into both of the humans' minds, and once it did, neither of them could actually argue. His logic was sound, and while both of them could voice a protest on at least one point, neither actually wanted to. Hiashi's reason had already been pointed straight out; he didn't like that fact that his daughter had to be a demon, but at least he wouldn't have to see his daughter suffer like his brother.

The Hokage could have easily said that it would still not be the same, and so would not allow her to become a genin. Had he not seen that Hinata could do more than handle herself well enough –and that was without training– he likely would have said something, given that she hadn't passed the exams. But as it were, she did manage to stop a traitor from taking one of their village's most precious possessions. Given of course, it would have been better if Mizuki was kept alive for questioning, but that was little consequence, and easily excusable when you took Hinata's lack of experience in her new body into account. One thing did raise a question in him though…

"How did you know that we were short one candidate?" Sarutobi asked curiously.

To this, Naruto only shrugged. "I was bored, so I counted how many people ended up failing before I went up, which was pretty much second to last. Honestly, I was disappointed when Hinata was among the four that failed. By then, I was sure that she'd never accept my offer, but then this happened."

The Hokage nodded at that, though he was still in a bit of disbelief, it made sense, in a way. Naruto may have changed, but he still seemed to be as energetic as he was before he left, if not more so. Hyuga Hiashi, on the other hand, had one problem with that statement. "So you planned to turn her into a demon even before today?" was his accusation, and once again, Naruto brushed it off with a shrug.

"I wanted her to accept it, but I wouldn't have forced her… well… okay, so it was more like I couldn't force her to accept, so I can't really answer with a straight 'yes' or 'no' to that one."

"Why?" the Hyuga head followed up, getting a confused 'huh?' from the prince. "Why did you want her to turn into a demon? Why did you offer such a thing to her in the first place?" You must have a reason."

Naruto's mouth shaped into an 'o' after that, finally understanding. "Well, if you must know, it's because she reminded me a little of myself before I was brought to my grandparents. And since it was discovering my demonic heritage that made my life turn for the better, I thought I'd do the same for her." _"Not exactly true, but not all that much a lie either. I still can't believe I'd actually feel sympathy for a human though… not that she's actually a human now, but…"_

"I… see." The Krichevskoy heir was brought out of his musings by the Hyuga head's words, his gaze falling upon the man whose frown had once more deepened. He noted though, much to his joy, that the animosity behind it was not as great as before. "But how will this protect her from the Hyuga elders? With the situation of her needing to become a genin, at least some of the less narrow-minded among them were willing to agree to postpone placing the seal upon her. But with this…" he trailed off after that. He didn't need to explain what was obvious, and everyone in the office knew of the problem.

"That matter will be resolved on its own in time," was Naruto's simple reply. "I do, however, must ask her to live with us for the time being," he followed up soon after, gesturing to his four vassals.

Evidently though, he didn't word his request very well as a glare made its way to Hiashi's eyes. Naruto recognized it as the same gaze that his grandfather would sometimes throw at his dad or, in the times that his half cousin's family would visit, his uncle as well; usually when they were in very… awkward moments with their respective spouses.

"I assure you, I hold no intentions of what you are thinking right now, Hyuga-san. I say that only because it would be more advantageous for her were she to live with me," he explained.

It seemed to work, somewhat, but Hiashi still wasn't fully convinced. But still, he relented, eventually. So far, Naruto had brought up nothing but good points for his argument, and bar from his vague assurance concerning the Hyuga elders, everything else seemed to point to nothing but Hyuga's betterment. The vassal part was jarring at first, true, but then it came to mind that his four other companions were his vassals as well, and they seemed to be treated rather well. He still wasn't happy that Hyuga was turned into a demon but… "very well. If that is the case, I suppose things would only be better that way," Hyuga finally conceded.

A smile made its way to Hyuga's features upon hearing that. "I assure you, whatever doubts you may have, you need not let them linger. You don't even have to take the heat for this from your clan's elders. Simply say that it was an agreement between me and her," he assured the man, right before turning towards the Hyuga. "Now then jiji, I think it's time we talked about Hyuga's placement in the ninja corps."

-X-

The glare of sunlight flashing in through the window was what finally raised Hyuga from her slumber. Her eyes fluttering open, the thirteen year old girl sat up in bed with a stifled yawn, rubbing her eyes right after, feeling an odd sensation on the bridge of her nose. She paused for a moment after that, her still hazy mind telling her that something was off place, but right now, she just couldn't seem to place it. And so deciding to ignore the strange feeling, she swung her feet out of her bed… and immediately saw something very wrong.

While her legs did come out from under the blanket, so too did something else. A something else that was long, jet black, and attached to her rear. The Hyuga girl's mind went from groggy to full alert in less than a fraction of a second as she stood up off the bed and began inspecting herself.

"_Wha… what happened to me?"_ she asked herself, thoughts racing upon the sight of her new body, _"I've gotten taller! And… my body… well okay, I suppose getting bigger and curvier is a good thing, but still!"_. She reached with one hand to her back, and another to the top of her head, noticing the added weight that seemed to be present in both places. _"Are these… WINGS! And HORNS!"_

She was naturally confused at first; wondering why it was that she had taken on a new form, but then she remembered the events of the previous night. She remembered being tricked by the traitor Mizuki, how her loyal teacher, Iruka, had tried to defend her and was defeated, and finally, how she'd transformed, fought, and eventually, killed Mizuki. And then… then, that was it. She felt light after that victory, until she lost all recollection… "I passed out!" Hinata realized.

It was then that she started examine her surroundings, trying to figure out exactly where she was brought after passing out. The nightwear she was garbed in wasn't hers: they were far too small for her liking and constricted her… assets, which meant that she wasn't the one to put them on… and yet, she didn't seem to mind. She noted though that, despite its size, the material still felt fine to the touch and of extremely high quality. It was still too revealing for her tastes though. Most of the garb was made from a smooth translucent material, with only her chests and privates completely obscured.

And the room she was in… it certainly wasn't like any place she'd seen in the Hyuga compound. The décor of the room was a combination of black and crimson, as opposed to the pristine white walls of the Hyuga compound's living quarters. Looking back at the bed she had previously occupied, Hinata became breathless at the sight. While she didn't recognize the origin of the style, there was no doubt that it was purely luxurious, maybe even more so than those used by the main branch of her clan. It was big enough for two people -three if they really squeezed together- and had four posts with carvings of ornate design that reached eight feet above the floor, with curtains of deep violet in between each miniature pillar and a 'roof' of the same colour held up by them that looked to be made of fine silk. Just a little below the foot of the artistically styled furniture was a large, ebony cabinet.

She approached the wardrobe with careful steps. Whoever had brought her here didn't seem to want her restricted or harmed, she reasoned, after taking in her condition. Right now, her greatest concern was clothing. Assuming she had been captured, trying to escape in her current attire was far from favorable; not only would it be monumentally embarrassing were she to be seen by anyone in Konoha, the dress was also very agitating to her body, mostly her newly acquired wings. The pair of appendages on her back was only able to slip out of the nightgown through hastily cut slits at the back, the frays irritated the membrane to no end, causing them to twitch wildly every now and then. Definitely not a good thing to happen should she need to fight her way to freedom.

Upon opening the wardrobe, she was met with a rather surprising sight: Despite its size, there was only one set of clothing that was kept inside; the top and pants were both hanging on the clothes rack while a pair of knee-high boots stood right in front of each pant leg. Below that, at the very bottom of the cabinet was the only thing in an abundant supply of: female underwear; at least a dozen of both kinds. Whether that was good sign or not, Hinata couldn't honestly say, but she shook off that debate for another time and focused on the other articles.

Among all of them, the only familiar article were the pants which, other than being longer and slightly bigger, were no different than her old ones; they would probably reach right above her ankles like the old pair too, now that she was taller, but for some odd reason, she had a feeling that they wouldn't be as loose.

The top also reminded her a little of her usual beige jacket. It was of the same colour, the only subtle difference was in the material, seemingly made of some kind of fur, rather than the fine cotton of the one she usually wore; it even had the Hyuga clan crest on it, though this time, it was on the right chest. The difference in design though, was anything but subtle. Rather than her normal jacket which reached down all the way down to her hips, the top was a zipped-up vest that, at best, would cover the area above her belly button and also had a low reaching V-neck that stopped mid chest. What was more, the collar –which was the thickest part of the attire– and half of the shoulders seemed to be detachable. Turning the top around revealed a large gap between the space above her arm holes and the shoulders; the back of the neck and the base of the dress being connected only by a strip of cloth that would run along the wearer's spine. It took Hinata a bit of time to figure out, but she realized eventually that they made the perfect opening for her wings.

Finally, she turned her eyes on the boots. Now those were completely strange to her. She wasn't a very big fashion enthusiast to begin with, and her clan had always preferred functionality over appearances, so she never really thought much about popular designs, but she was pretty certain that pink hearts and combat boots didn't mix, the fact they were high heeled and obviously for women be damned. Still, there was no doubting their functionality. If the quality of everything else wasn't enough of an indication, the feel of the material certainly was. The leather of the footwear's outer layer was hard, but not rigid, and the heel wasn't too thin.

Breaking out of her inspection, she looked around the room, activating her Byakugan for a few moments, only giving it enough power to penetrate about a meter past the walls; it wouldn't do for any possible captors to find out she was awake after all, at least until she got into more battle ready attire. Seeing no one around, she quickly took the vest and pants off of their racks and threw them to the bed before grabbing a matching pair navy coloured pair of underwear, apparently already pre-arranged, and finally, the combat boots.

Hinata set the boots at the side of the bed, throwing off the nightgown she was dressed in, ripping the holes made for her wings even larger before proceeding to put on the dark blue bra and panties. She quickly took the vest and removed it from its hanger, finding out that the neckline and part of the shoulders did, in fact, detach from the front . The Hyuga girl threw one side of the vest on, then the other, and finally, she reached back to grab the collar and shoulders, pulling it up and around her neck; making sure her wings weren't obstructed in any way. She fastened the buttons on the shoulders before zipping up the vest, the V-neck exposing quite a bit of cleavage. The fact that she didn't feel as shy about it as she thought it would passed her mind, but there was no time to think about it now.

The pants came next, with Hinata once more taking them off of their hanger and putting them on. She wondered briefly as to how to fit in her tail, but that was solved quickly upon discovering an opening at the back of her pants for the appendage to pass through. It was even adjustable, allowing the larger tip to fit right out. It seemed her gut feeling about the pants were right though: they were quite tight on her new frame. Not so much for it to be a hindrance, but certainly not as loose as she was used to. In fact, they were actually more comfortable than her old pair.

After standing up and trying on the pants as she walked, Hinata made to reach for the boots, only to stop midway as she heard the door wing open. She had turned around and was on guard immediately as she caught a sight of the person entering… only to be thrown into dumbfounded confusion at the bizarre creature that stood by the doorway, looking towards her with a surprised expression… or at least what she thought was a surprised expression.

The creature was far from being human, or even humanoid to any extent. It was a peg-legged, bipedal bird like thing that, for all intents and purposes, looked to be nothing more than a giant stuffed toy reject. Its body was mostly purple, with an apparently stitched on white underbelly, though considering that the foot tall bird was wearing a strange uniform, it was pretty hard to confirm. Said uniform consisted of a white, button up shirt, some sort of thin, black, buttoned vest, a coat with two short thin flaps that resembled a swallow's tail, and finally, a black bow tie at the 'neck' of the shirt.

"Oh! Great, you're already awake dood!"

_"It can talk!"_ was the first thought that came to Hinata's mind. Idly, she wondered why nearly everything she'd noticed the entire time after waking up seemed to want to do nothing more than weird her out. "Wha… er… Who… are you?" she asked in an awkward tone, nearly slipping with what could possibly have been an insult.

All that seemed to go unnoticed by the suited living toy though, as it answered with an embarrassed laugh. "I'm Ayasaki Hayabusa, top prinny personnel, head of staff, and personal butler under prince Naruto's direct orders. Pleasure to meet you dood," the, talking stuffed toy, a 'prinny' apparently, introduced itself.

"Oh… I… see," was all she could reply with. _"So I'm in Naruto-kun's mansion huh?... Wait, since when did I start calling him Naruto 'kun'. I know that dark side of my mind apparently did but… hold on, wasn't she supposed to take over?"_

"Ahem… dood."

It was the call of the butler prinny that brought Hinata out of her confused reverie, her eyes turning towards the purple bird-esque demon with a curious glance. "Since you're already awake and dressed and all, I guess all I have to do is tell you that they're expecting you at breakfast downstairs in ten minutes. There's a bathroom down the hall that way," he said, pointing to his left, "so if you want to freshen up first, just head there. See ya dood."

And with that, the prinny left, closing the door as he made his exit. Hinata continued to stare at the closed entrance with a blank look, trying to comprehend the fact that she'd just been given instructions by a talking doll. Eventually, she just decided that the demon world was probably just weird that way and proceeded to put on her new boots before heading out the door and towards the bathroom. She may have had a different body now, but her hair still felt the same, and if so, she'd probably need to comb them first to look presentable. While Hinata didn't care about fashion and make-up and other beauty products the way Ino, Sakura or any of her other female classmates did, she nevertheless took care to present a well-kept exterior.

-X-

Dining room…

There were many things that most humans expected from demons: a penchant for destruction, cruelty and mercilessness beyond words, plotting and scheming the downfall of humans and being nothing but mindless killing machines was high among the contradiction-happy list. One of the lower one's though, was their inability to eat –or do anything for that matter– with any amount of manners. Currently, and just like any morning in the Namikaze mansion since their arrival, that point was being proven true and false at the same time.

Kasumi watched on with great amusement as Charlotte continuously berated Naruto for his callous dining manners, shoving chunk after chunk of their very large breakfast into his mouth, all the while Naruto ignored all the mage's shouts. It was always fun to watch her blast out minor star spells in irritation; most of which managed to hit some of the prinnies serving breakfast as the prince either dodged them or used the silverware at his disposal to deflect them away. There was a reason why food duty was one of the most dreaded tasks among the staff. Agni and Rudra had long since learned to have their breakfast behind her, lest they be caught in the attack range.

Unlike most days however, the amusing/dangerous/irritating morning ritual (depending on who you asked) was broken by a rather unusual… "Whaaaa!"… scream, which obviously did not belong to a prinny.

The breakfast antics halted right there as all eyes turned to the general direction of the yell with blank faces. It wasn't exactly hard to determine who it was. Barring the prinnies, there were only six others in the mansion, and five of them were currently in the dining room. Add in the fact that prinnies (or most of them anyway. None of the lot they had were exceptions though), for some reason, always screamed with a long drawn out 'dood' and it was a dead giveaway who the source of the voice was.

Said source only took a few moments later before it, or rather, 'she' barreled down the stairs and headed straight for the dining room; her hair unkempt, nerves bulging around her eyes and expression panic stricken. The girl dove immediately to the only person she recognized among the small throng of demons and live explosives; grabbing the lapels of his coat, she leaned down and brought her face to his, giving Naruto a close up view of her furious glare. Her furious, violet eyed glare.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BYAKUGAN?" she demanded in outrage, shaking the demon prince by his clothes.

It didn't seem to have any effect on the blonde though as he simply grabbed both her, stopping her from rattling him any further and forcing her to let go. "Calm down. I didn't do anything to your Byakugan. Hell, you're using it right now aren-"

"I KNOW THAT! BUT IT'S NOT A BYAKUGAN ANYMORE! WHAT HAPPENED? WHY DID IT CHANGE COLOUR" the irate Hinata interrupted, once more, getting into the prince's face; her new, taller body making it easier for her, though the blonde was still taller.

"I said, CALM DOWN!" Naruto ordered, his patience beginning to break. He was willing to tolerate his vassals demanding information or berating him, even Hinata who hadn't even been one for a whole day yet, but he wouldn't let himself be disrespected like this. "If you want to know what it is that happened to your Byakugan, I suggest you SIT and eat first, or if you're not hungry, then wait. You'll learn everything there is about yourself once we begin training."

There was no questioning whether what Naruto said was a request or iron authority in his voice was enough of an indication on that part, and Hinata, even with all her newfound confidence, didn't have what it took to disobey. She backed away from him hesitantly, still wanting to get her answers, but decided against looking for it now, and so she found herself a seat right next to the black haired girl to Naruto's left.

It was only then she noticed the other occupants of the room. The prinnies bringing in food didn't catch her attention much, _"probably that staff that the_ _butler prinny mentioned. What was his name? Haya… te? Oh, whatever."_ No, the ones that had caught her attention were the two other girls at the table, both of which –obviously demons ,considering their apparent home and appearances– were staring at her rather amusedly. "What?" was all she could ask.

Both of them responded by shaking their heads and, in the case of the redhead across from her, a light giggle. "Nothing," the black haired girl answered, "it's just that… well, the last person who did something like that to the prince ended up getting a shooting star shot at his crotch… twice… one to each side. …While that's not exactly possible for you, I'm still pretty amazed that he didn't do anything."

"Yeah," the redhead joined in, leaning a little on the table, "then again, that guy acted ten times worse than you did, so I guess it is pretty logical. … or he could have just taken a liking to you, whichever explanation you prefer to believe," joked the fur wearing demoness, causing a faint blush to appear on the succubus' gob smacked face; the mage beside her was only doing slightly better expression-wise and with a lot less blushing.

They weren't the only ones though… "I can hear you both, you know. If neither of you have noticed, I'm still here, and right now, I have half a mind to throw both of you into the Nether Reaper's item world," threatened the demon prince. The way he tried to look indifferent despite the blush on his face completely ruined the attempt though.

The mention of this 'item world' partially piqued Hinata's curiosity, but she shrugged it off as something she'd probably learn eventually. Right now though, she was rather curious about the two other females in the room… or at least the ones she was completely sure were of the female gender; the prinnies she couldn't really be sure about.

"Umm… who exactly are you two?" Hinata inquired as she started eating the food set before her. While normally, she'd opt to introduce herself first, it was unlikely she needed to do so, given how they didn't seem to be surprised that she was there. Likely Naruto had told them about her.

Introduction or not, it didn't look like either of them minded, and the black haired girl was all too happy to give her an answer, complete with a smile. "My name is Niula Charlotte, galaxy-class mage and top apprentice of one of the twin magic generals: Mahosho(1), Arumajiki Sei-sensei(2). I'm also one of the prince's vassals and act an… advisor of sorts to him. Or at least that's how I'd put it."

She pointed to the redhead across the table from her after that, apparently deciding to introduce her companion for her. "The one over there is Yoko Kasumi, former leader of the Yoko fox demon clan. She's basically his second in command, organizing everything he needs and asks for and making sure that they're done and done right. And in battle, she's the strongest fighter under the prince's command and can even match a brigadier general in the royal army on her best days."

To say that Hinata was impressed was an understatement. She was well aware of the army rankings used by samurai in non-shinobi countries like the land of iron, and a brigadier general was pretty high up. Add in the fact that these were demons…

"Wow… so I guess you'd be somewhere close to the Kyubi's power huh?"

Evidently, that was a very odd question to ask, at least that's what Hinata deduced from their reactions. Kasumi had started to look at her very oddly, Charlotte had nearly done a spit take and was now giggling and Naruto just started laughing.

"Umm… well, I'd say so. It'd be kind of hard not to be as strong as myself."

Those wordstook a few seconds to finally register in the succubus's mind, and their meaning a few more. Eventually though, she came to realize exactly what it was that the girl had said… and her eyes couldn't have gotten any wider.

Quick as lightning, the winged girl scrambled out of her chair like a madman and backed up while on her until she was blocked by the wall, her eyes staring fearfully at the fox demoness. This, unfortunately, also ended up with a prinny getting kicked high up into the air and going on a collision course with a whole bunch of others. The 'oh shit' looks on everyone's faces in the room was more than enough for Hinata to realize that something was about to go wrong.

"Doooooooood!"

The sound of continuous explosions was only kept away from the ears of the entire leaf village by the power of the sound suppression seals etched upon the Namikaze building… barely.

-X-

An hour later, living room.

A charred group of six demons sat on the multitude of couches that existed in the Namikaze household, none of them truly hurt, thanks to a whole lot of recovery spell. It had taken a while for them to bring Hinata back into consciousness after the mass prinny chain reaction. Thankfully, none of the prinnies were too powerful anyway, so the damage to the house wasn't very extensive, thanks to some demonic reinforcements.

There were many things that could be said about Kasumi's carefree attitude and usual laziness, but she still thought up of every possible danger, and a mass prinnyplosion was one of them.

Hinata, being the only none prinny caught in the blast radius with very little training, didn't manage to stay in the world of living (metaphorically speaking, of course). Then there was also the matter of her apparent fear of Kasumi, which took another good half hour of convincing until she was finally able to remain calm around the centuries old fox… well, calm enough not to cause a similar accident anyway.

On a side note, that was also when she was first introduced to the demon dog duo.

"Alright," Naruto suddenly announced. "Seeing that there's nothing else better to do right now, I think it's time we moved on to your training, ne, Hinata-chan? You still need to learn how to control your new body and powers after all."

The blonde hadn't even needed to say anything else beyond training before he got Hinata's attention. She accepted the transformation in order to protect her teacher, yes, but in the end, it was also so she could get stronger. And what better way to get stronger than to train?

With a nod of acceptance that was mirrored by the demon prince, Hinata was led to an odd stone arch that rested on the wall, a pedestal right beside it; the others following behind. With a snap of his finger, one of the few prinnies that weren't currently recovering handed Naruto a… well she didn't really know what call it, all she knew was that it looked very soft and fluffy.

The mystery item was soon placed upon the pedestal, which started o give off a blue glow. The same glow, this time brighter and larger, began to form in between the arch, and soon, the space where one could once only see a wall was now occupied by an opaque mass of blue energy.

The look of wonder, confusion and curiosity on Hinata's face need not be explained as she watched the sight. She didn't even need to voice her question as to what exactly the archway, and everything about it was before she received an explanation.

"This is a gate to the item world," Charlotte started. "Due to the large amount of mana in the netherworld, many items end up producing a sort of spiritual sanctuary within themselves, and in these sanctuaries, item spirits are born. Different forms of magic have been created far and wide n order to go into these item worlds, and it was soon found out that, by defeating and taming the spirits within, the items themselves became stronger. Also, due to the mass quantities of increasingly stronger monsters on each 'floor' of the item world, training within them has become one of the most well known methods of quickly becoming stronger among demons."

"That's right, and this… this is where your training begins."

-X-

Whew! Finally done with that one. Sorry for the late update, but I've been having some troubles in school lately, so I had to take some private tutoring to get myself up to par. But enough about that, let's finish this one off so that I can start on the next chapter shall we?

(1) Mahosho- You should have realized the thread by now, but this basically translates to 'magic general'. On a side note, this title belongs to two demons, Arumajiki Ryu and Sei.

(2) Speaking of which, yes, the generals DO have family names. However, they usually refer to themselves and each other by first name and titles alone, as does most others. Charlotte just uses

Sei's full name out of respect and admiration.

Alright, that about wraps this chapter up. The next chapter will include Hinata's first time training as a demon so that you can all get to see what to expect for the fights that'll happen later on. The team placements will also take place, and in case any body's wondering, I've already decided what to do with the teams, so don't send me reviews about what team you think is best. It should be pretty obvious to everyone by now what the team formation will be. And if I'm lucky, I might just kick off the wave arc. See ya!


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, I know is a little late, but in my defence, I've come across a lot of distracting stories lately. That, coupled with some school work pretty much meant I had little time to write much each day, so sorry about that.

There's a very important note at the end of this, so don't just skip the author's note there.

Other than that I don't really have anything much to say, so let's just go with the usual 'I don't own anything' thing, okay? Good, let's begin.

**Chapter VII: Team Eight**

What is power without control? What is strength, without mastery? Even the strongest of beings can be toppled by a mere insect if they do not know how to kill it. This path you have chosen… both as a demon, and a ninja… is a path you must learn to walk upon flawlessly, for with the smallest stumble… even the greatest in the world can fall into the poisoned ground.

-X-

Paw Glove Item world: 20th floor…

Naruto and his four vassals stood behind a tense Hinata, each with an observant gleam in their eyes. The blue haired succubus held herself in a modified version of the Hyugas' Jyuken stance; her feet spread wider apart, her right hand pulled back and her upper body slanting. The wings on her back were angled to allow her a strong forward push at a moment's notice, and her tail coiled to strike. Lavender eyes burned with anticipation of the encounter to come, the veins surrounding them bulging at the Hyuga girl's temples. At her feet were the bodies of various felled item spirits, all of them unmoving.

In front of the group was a tall cliff, upon which was a raised dais with four cornering statues. A tall and heavily armoured humanoid stood at the very top, wielding a hefty sword over his shoulder.

"Alright then Hinata-chan, this is your final test for this little trip to the item world. Remember, that heavy knight over there is an item general, so don't hold back," Naruto instructed, pointing towards the floor's last remaining enemy. "Remember, heavy knights aren't all that agile but their defence is strong, don't go for an all out assault on the get go. Fly around him first and try to throw him off balance. You may not have completely mastered manoeuvring in the air yet, but what you do know should be enough for now. You ready?"

A confident smirk made its way to the winged demoness' face as her body tensed even more, priming herself for action. "Ready as I'll ever be," she answered, her tone matching her expression to a T.

Without even waiting for a signal, the former human leaped high into the air, using her wings to propel herself higher and faster, clearing the great distance between her and her opponent with ease.

The heavy knight's attention was now focused solely upon the airborne demoness, bringing his blade to bear. With an equally focused gaze, Hinata positioned her body as if she was crouching on a surface perpendicular to the ground, staying in mid air on the same spot as though gravity was ignoring her. She kicked herself off the imaginary surface with a mighty wave of her midnight blue wings, her hands glowing with a sinister pink light.

Once the succubus was close enough, the heavyset swordsman gave a mighty diagonal swing of his weapon, only for his target to flip herself parallel to the blade, causing his strike to miss completely; the momentum behind the slash making him lose balance.

Hinata made no hesitation to capitalize on the knight's inability to follow up his attack, folding her wings around herself like a shawl and twisting in the air like a drill; the high speed manoeuvre forcing her tail into a corkscrew motion that left a cut near the armoured item spirit's eyes. Landing in a single-handed handstand, she used the momentum of her spin to deliver a follow up sweep kick to the stunned knight, flipping back onto her feet right afterwards, just as her opponent fell.

The supine heavy knight was far from defenceless though. With an enraged battle cry, he brought down his sizeable weapon, nearly taking Hinata's right arm off at the shoulders, were it not for a lucky dodge. Still, while not as damaging as it was intended, the desperate attack did leave behind a deep cut, the pain from the injury causing the succubus to clutch her shoulder in pain.

With a quickness belying his size, the item general rolled onto a single knee, right in front of his opponent, just like the human knights of olden times, kneeling in front of their queen. This one however, had no intentions of servitude, delivering a quick right hook that sent the succubus flying, and not in the preferred way, off of the stone dais.

Hinata was not to be deterred so easily. With a defiant glare in her eyes, and gritting her teeth to rid herself of the pain from her now healing shoulder, she righted herself in mid air, her wings fanning out behind her, beating them occasionally to hover in place.

_"Damn it! That hurt!"_ she mentally screamed, berating herself for letting her guard down, _"I should've known this guy was too stubborn to be put down by something that weak. Looks like I'll have to take things up a notch. Hopefully, I've got enough youki for this."_

Calming her breath, the demonized Hyuga started channelling youki into the heart-tipped appendage, just as she did when she finished off Mizuki. This time however, rather than simply moulding her youki as though preparing for a Jyuken strike, she let as much of it as she could build up at the end, compressing the demonic energy until it felt as though it would burst.

A content smile spread itself upon her features once he felt she had enough. "About three seconds. Still not good enough against anyone who can fight long range, but it's better than the last time."

With determined glare, Hinata dove towards the item spirit. Her smile turned into a smirk as her opponent brought his sword up to guard. "Gotcha!" she mentally cheered, flicking her tail back. The pent up energy releasing from the tip in the form of a burgundy coloured youki.

Her dive turned into a roll at the last moment, giving extra momentum to her attempted slash. Yet, despite that, the succubus's strike was still blocked; clashing with the metal sword in a deadlock, with the larger of the two getting the apparent upper hand. Hinata's smirk didn't waver in the least though.

Rather than try to match her opponent in power, the lavender eyed demoness used her tail like the chain of a flail, with her as the weight, tossing herself over the eight foot tall man.

She kicked herself back as soon as she landed, turning around before the heavy knight could get over his surprise; her hands glowing with promised death. With intense speed, she drove her palms into her opponent's unguarded back, again and again, striking different points each time in what would look like a random assault to a layman. But this was far from the truth. Each time she struck with her youki laced hands_,_ it was with extreme precision, hitting her opponent at vital points only her eyes allowed her to see; shooting small needles of her own destructive energy into the swordsman's back.

And just as sudden as it had started, so too did the assault stop. Taking a deep breath, Hinata retracted her hands from her opponent's back, turned around, and walked away; jumping off of the ledge cliff with her wings fanned out to slow her descent. The demon she left behind dropped his sword to the ground, bouncing off of the floor with a loud clang, followed soon afterwards by its master, lifeless.

The blunette's landing was met with slow applause from her three humanoid companions. "You've definitely gone a long way in just twenty days. I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed, rookie," Kasumi said, her lips crooked upwards into a small smirk.

"She's right," agreed Charlotte, "At this point, I'd say you're at about the level of a second class private. It usually takes normal demons five years to get that far. Though your time at the ninja academy probably helped."

"You've still got a lot of work to do when it comes to aerial combat though. Still not comfortable attacking while in mid air?" Naruto asked, getting a nod in response. He sighed, "thought so. Eh… oh well, you'll get used to it eventually. For now, we're done here."

Not seconds after the words left his mouth, a vortex of blue light appeared behind him, revealing the living room of his new residence on the other side of the portal. Without another word, the blonde prince walked through the gate back into the normal world, followed closely by his vassals, both old and new.

"So it's really been only twenty hours outside since we left?" Hinata asked the mage beside her as they marched towards the exit of the item world.

Charlotte nodded in response. "That's right. For every day that passes in the item world, one hour passes in the normal world. Since we spent half a day on each floor with you fighting, and the other half for you to heal and rest, I'd say that's the safest estimation we can make."

"Pretty handy place to have," the lavender eyed girl commented, an impressed expression on her features as she took a final look around the place.

"Yes it is," the magic user replied simply right before the two of them passed through the gate of light.

-X-

Namikaze estate: dining room…

The light of the moon shone through the glass windows, illuminating the room and its three occupants. No other being was awake at this time, leaving them all in complete privacy. Even the servants were sound asleep in their quarters.

"So, did you figure out what went wrong with the spell?" Naruto asked, his eyes closed and his face completely neutral as he leaned his head upon his interlaced fingers.

"Yes… it seems that the delay in keeping the spell contained may have altered how it affected the target's mind," Charlotte started, a slight frown marring her features. In front of her was the book holding the incantation of the Veldime curse. "This spell… was originally supposed to have only two ways of functioning; it was either a slow and gradual transformation, where the target would slowly succumb to their dark side, or an immediate transformation where their minds are mostly kept the same, save for being more aggressive. However, given how Hinata-san was transformed…"

"So… having Hinata contain the spell's power for a while before an instant transformation… mixed them up?" Kasumi inquired, resting her head upon her crossed arms as she directed a confused stare at her fellow vassal.

"In a nutshell, yes," the galaxy mage confirmed with a nod "From what I gathered from her odd behaviour in the item world, and her actions once out of it, it seems to me like the main trigger for her personality switch is battle. While not in any form of danger, she still retains most of her previous traits: a lot less shy around people, but we should probably expect a bit of that later on, and she's still very polite unless angered. When fighting though, her personality changes quite drastically: she loses absolutely any and all hints of shyness, so much to the point of sometimes flaunting her figure… though whether that comes from her own nature or her succubi instinct is difficult to say. She becomes more arrogant and provocative, not to mention ruthless."

"Are there any possible side-effects that could come out of this? Anything that could become a problem?" spoke the prince, his eyes now open and focused on the mage.

Charlotte shook her head in a negative. "Not that I know of, no. Split personalities are more common than most people think; they're just very miscible, and so, are hardly noticed. Unless one personality is actively bringing harm to the other, or to the body of the person, there really isn't much of a problem."

There was silence after that, as Kasumi and Naruto both contemplated the current situation surrounding the newly transformed succubus. After a few minutes, Naruto finally spoke, his decision for the situation made up. "We'll leave it alone for now. Until something big comes up, there shouldn't be much of a problem. However, I think it would probably be best that we only use the conventional transformation methods from now on. Hinata-chan turned out well enough, but I'd rather not risk my takeover plan by using something that'll make a new demon go insane. It wouldn't really be good for attracting people to the choice, after all."

Kasumi and Charlotte both nodded their heads in understanding. They expected as much, and it made a lot of sense. There was something else in what the prince said, however, that managed to catch their attention, and the former leader of the Yoko wasn't about to let it go. "You've really taken to calling her Hinata-chan haven't you, Naruto-sama?" she asked with a sly grin. In the inside though, she was a little annoyed at the thought of more 'competition'. She knew that Naruto could have them all at once, and probably keep up with them all to boot. That didn't mean that she was willing to share him with everybody though… not that he was hers to begin with, but she had plans to remedy that in the future. Charlotte was at about the same mindset.

Naruto's reaction wasn't very satisfying to Kasumi, unfortunately, so she didn't really feel any better. Rather than the blush she expected, he merely gave her a confused look, before shrugging without a single care. "I call you girls the same way. I don't see what the problem is," he replied, nonchalantly, getting up from his chair and walking to his own room. "I'm gonna go get some sleep. I still have to meet the old man tomorrow and get Hinata-chan's hitai-ate"

The two (by netherworld standards) young women twitched in annoyance. "You're sure he's not doing that on purpose right?" Kasumi asked the ebony haired mage, getting a quick nod of confirmation.

"If I had to take a guess, that's probably how he'll address any female vassal. Though whether that's out of habit or just his way of flirting, I really don't know."

"Heh… if that's the case, then it's definitely just a habit," the fox demoness snorted. "The prince, like his grandfather, and if I heard correctly, great grandfather and mother, are all as ignorant to those kinds of feelings as bat is to sight… at least at this point. They all changed eventually, but we probably shouldn't expect much for another thousand years or so."

-X-

One week later…

There were many things that Charlotte told Hinata about succubi: the history of their race, their relations towards other hellion races, strengths, and weaknesses. One such strength, was their natural ability to turn nearly any guy's eyes towards them, and to make any woman's jealousy rise. Of course, given Naruto's usual behaviour around her, not to mention how all her opponents in the item world still attacked normally, she'd always thought that the galaxy mage was just joking then. Now thought…

*SLAP!*

The lavender eyed girl couldn't help but wince as someone was slapped by a very irritated girlfriend, or was that his wife? She couldn't really tell any more given how many times the same thing already happened.

It was the day Naruto and her were to be assigned to genin teams, and it was also the first day she'd ventured out of the walls of the Namikaze estate since her transformation. It had been no more than ten minutes since they left, and she was already the cause of nearly two dozen slaps and three times as many drooling men.

With her wings wrapped around her shoulders like a shawl, her horns hidden by genjutsu, and her tail wrapped around her waist like a belt, she was actually the least eye catching of the marching group, especially since Naruto decided to take Agni and Rudra with them. She hardly revealed any skin either, and her wings were doing a very good job at keeping the true shape of her abdomen and hips from reaching the eyes of the surrounding people, so it surprised her greatly that she was getting all the attention.

What worried her even more, though, was that she actually felt a bit of… pride… at what she was doing to Konoha's male populous, not to mention the jealous stares of many of the female villagers. "I guess Charlotte-san wasn't joking after all."

"Gah!"

Once more, Hinata flinched, feeling sorry for the poor sap who was just kicked in the nuts by a very ticked off girlfriend… and a kunoichi to boot, if her headband was any indication. Although she honestly couldn't say that she felt sympathetic to the civilian boy, not having the proper body parts to fully understand the level of such pain, there was still a part of Hinata that didn't wish for people to get hurt needlessly; a part she was glad remained unchanged.

Still… she would have liked it better if they just got to the academy sooner. Chances are, she'd ruin less relationships there. Sadly, such a wish did not come true, and by the time they reached the academy, Hinata was pretty sure that at there were at least four break ups because of her… not to mention a possible divorce or two.

-X-

Despite the fact that it was their last day, the current academy graduates were acting pretty much the same as always. Sasuke was brooding as his fangirls fought for one of the seats beside him, never mind that there were two. Shikamaru was sleeping beside his ever eating friend Chouji. The rest were either talking excitedly with something else, or sitting down quietly, waiting for what was to come.

All this was stopped when the door was sent all the way to the other side of the room. Of course, given the fact that such a thing had become a regular enough occurrence throughout the village in the last month that the repairmen had all gotten decisively richer, it came as not much of a surprise for them when Naruto entered the room.

He was attired just as he was on their first day seeing him, with the only exception being a rather… ominous (to say the least) black scarf around his neck where he kept his hitai-ate. The piece of cloth looked tattered at the end, but that only made it look scarier as it continued to wave about in a non-existent wind. It was as though he was wearing a strip of black flame that would only refuse to burn it's owner.

The two hounds following him were an oddity, for sure, given their odd colouring and… horns? _"Those are fake… right?"_ most asked themselves. They found out early that it wasn't a good idea to ask Naruto anything; mostly because it either ended with him ignoring you, or if you were a guy and he was really annoyed, taking a shot at the family jewels.

Given the fact that he could kick thick wooden doors off their hinges and send them flying at least a meter away, no one wanted to experience it. The first guy that did was still recovering from surgery. Of course, given that he wasn't a legal adult back then, he got off easy. That didn't mean they were going to take a chance now when he was considered a legal adult.

A few, though, took greater interest in them. Particularly the class's resident Inuzuka, who, for once, looked like he was actually examining something carefully. Others like Shino and Shikamaru simply gave them a speculative glance before focusing elsewhere.

A second person walked in a few paces behind the lupine creatures, all eyes turning to regard the newest figure… and all of them widening to the size of saucers as the girl walked in. She was about the same height as Shino, who was the second tallest in class (next to Naruto) and seemed to radiate pure sex appeal. Her clothes were the usual gear one would expect from a ninja, weapon pouch included, save for the shawl she wore.

Suddenly, something clicked in the minds of (most) the students. Solid coloured, nearly white eyes, midnight blue hair, slightly pale complexion. Eyes widened. "Is that… Hinata!"

Everybody in the room could only continue to stare as the group made its way to a pair of empty seats, the wolf-like creatures sitting on their haunches right behind them like beastly sentinels. It wasn't until a certain pink haired girl's eyes drifted towards her crush that the silence was broken.

Sasuke was staring at her too. He was staring at a girl… that wasn't her. Widened eyes suddenly narrowed in anger at the blue haired girl who had gotten her crush's attention. She broke away from the rest of Sasuke's formerly squabbling fangirls and quickly made her way to the new arrivals, completely ignoring the little voice in her head that was telling her not to do what she was about to do.

"Hinata!" she growled out, causing the girl to turn to her. "So it is her." Sakura didn't know whether she wanted to smirk at being right or be angrier that it was the Hyuga girl. She settled for the latter. "What the hell are you doing here! Only those that passed the genin exam are supposed to be here today!"

The Hyuga girl blinked, her expression portraying… annoyance? Everyone had to rub their eyes at that. If this was Hinata, why was she acting… well… un-Hinata like. The shy girl they knew would have flinched back by now, started looking at the ground while mumbling apologies and trying to make her way out of the class while her tormentor looked at her smirking. Instead, the girl in front of them was looking at Sakura like she was an idiot.

Despite that though, Sakura still hadn't relented, scowling down at the Hyuga girl she'd intimidated so many times before. After all, Hinata probably bullied her like everyone else did before she met Ino, right? A Hyuga like her had to have done that, especially the heiress. Either way, she'd fold eventually and leave soon enough, she always did.

Which was why it took Sakura (and the whole class) by surprise when Hinata simply reached into her spike bottomed shawl and pulled out a hitai-ate hanging around her neck, showing it clearly to the pink haired girl before putting it back and turning her head to look towards the classroom door, waiting for the teacher to enter. All the while never saying a word.

Incensed Sakura was about to continue the argument, but was stopped short when the door to the classroom opened, heralding the arrival of their teacher. It took until the man reached his desk before his eyes seemed to widen in realization, his head tilting up as he looked at his students in confusion.

They were all quiet. Iruka blinked, then blinked again. Finally, his face set into a frown as he crossed his arms. "Okay what gives? You guys are never completely silent," he asked, clearly very serious.

It took all of a second for Sakura to make her inquiry. "Iruka-sensei, why does Hinata have a hitai-ate? She failed the exams didn't she?"

"Oh," the chunin said, finally understanding the situation. "Yes, about that. Apparently, my assistant, Mizuki had been planning for Hinata to fail so he could trick her into stealing a very important object from the hokage tower while he distracted the guards. Hinata was made a genin when this was found out upon Mizuki's capture." Technically not a lie, but he couldn't very well tell the class that she turned into a demon and saved his ass, nor could he tell them that Hinata failed the test on her own. Really, he was glad that it happened, but he'd been ordered not to; plus, even if she was a demon, she was still his (former) student, and stopped him from being killed, so he owed it to her. Her new 'boss' though… that was a different story, but he was willing to give Naruto the benefit of the doubt.

Besides, despite having those holes in the story, it seemed enough for the whole class, which Iruka was glad about. Chunin he may have been, but having a bunch of genin hopefuls poking holes in a story he'd revealed enough about was not something he would have liked to happen.

"So, didn't she fail the test on her own."

And of course someone had to ruin it. That particular someone being the last remaining (in Konoha) member of the Hyuga's rival clan: Uchiha Sasuke. Honestly, the boy was very smart and talented for an academy student, that was something Iruka had to give him. Unfortunately, while he mostly remained quiet, there were times when Sasuke opened his mouth that made the scarred teacher wish he hadn't.

Still, that didn't mean the situation was salvageable. "That may be true, however, Hinata only failed during the practical half; she managed to ace the written portion. The fact that she was able to sneak into the Hokage tower, despite the detraction, not to mention how much she helped me when I confronted Mizuki more than made up for it." "Of course, by 'help' I mean 'did it practically on her own,' but then again who needs to know that."

"Wow! So you were the one that managed to bring in Mizuki-se… uhh… Mizuki!"

The sound of murmuring amongst his students about how amazing he was like music to his ears. Not the praise, of course. Iruka was never one to care much about praises; not unless it came from someone that really mattered. Rather, he was glad that they all decided to switch to another topic.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. All of you get back to your seats," he ordered, for once not needing to use his patented 'sensei ninpo: kyoatama no jutsu'(1) before they obeyed. It was a bittersweet feeling really; the fact that they all respected him more now, but would either never have him as a teacher again, or would lose a lot of that respect when they failed the second part of the genin test. "Oh well. Better late than never."

-X-

Naruto tuned out most of Iruka's speech about what it meant to be a ninja. He wasn't planning on being a ninja to begin with… well, completely anyway. If he really wanted to be a ninja, he would've just taken Kagetarou's offer to join the Zan'ei battalion full time until he became Overlord. To him, this was just a means to an end, so really, the only important thing today was the team assignment.

The scarred teacher had already gone through half the class without mentioning his name, or the names of anybody important really, so teams one through six only remained in his mind for all of a scant second. Of course, given that now there was only one unimportant student left, he decided that team seven was a good place to start listening.

"Team seven will be composed of Uchiha Sasuke-"

Not much reaction to that, save for his two remaining unassigned fangirls crossing their fingers.

"Haruno Sakura-"

The pinkette's loud voice was probably the only reason the prince of the netherworld even remembered that girl's name, and right now she was having a rather loud celebration… which was quickly put down by a very well aimed kunai to the back of the head, courtesy of Naruto using Hinata's stash. Unfortunately, he was forced to hit her with the blunt end due to his current façade, but at least he got her to shut up.

"And Inuzuka Kiba."

The loud thud of a head smashing on desk followed by some very worried barks was enough of an indication for the blonde to figure out the Inuzuka boy's reaction. Really, he couldn't blame him. Sasuke may sound like a guy that you could depend on, given his skill, but the his attitude was something very befitting to the netherworld, so teamwork was rare when not properly disciplined. And the Haruno girl… let's not go there.

"Ugh! What's wrong with me, I'm sympathizing with a human AGAIN!"

"Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

"Oh, looks like they got the graveyard scarecrow for their teacher. I wonder if he still has that habit dad told me about."

"Team eight will be composed of Uzumaki Naruto-"

"Finally."

"Hyuga Hinata-"

"Well, looks like the old man took my request. Then again, it was pretty reasonable, all things considering."

"And Aburame Shino."

"Aburame huh? Well, at least he's a good strategist. I don't want to have to show too much too early, and battle strategies really aren't my thing. I should be able to use him to hide it, if he can make the right plans."

"Your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai."

"Yuhi? Isn't that the name of that one lieutenant colonel prinny? Hmm… maybe their related."

"Team nine is still active, so Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji will make up team ten instead. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

As was to be expected, the reaction of the three were as follows: an increase in the sound of crunching chips, sighing and muttering 'troublesome', and a very frustrated growl. It didn't take a genius to figure out who did what.

"I want all of you to head out for lunch with your teammates to get to know each other better. Then, get back in class and wait for your sensei to pick your team up. Class dismissed."

-X-

Lunch was a pretty quiet affair. Convincing Shino to join them was surprisingly easy. Unlike most students who seemed to either fear him too much to get close to him (having sent at least three or four students to the hospital within a single week might have helped, but they all had it coming to them), or really really hated him. Sometimes both. When he was asked about it by a classmate, Shino had rationalized that since they were to be teammates, Naruto didn't really have a reason to hurt him before ignoring the 'ninja' completely. That, along with how he had most of his face reminded Naruto of the male Masho, Ryu… minus his tendency to randomly turn batshit crazy.

Or at least, he hoped so. More than once, the insane galaxy mage had tried to use him, his subordinates, the other generals, and hell even his sister for all sorts of twisted experiments that didn't even make sense. How he managed to keep his job for so long, Naruto honestly couldn't understand.

Still, that was all in the past, and lunch time had ended pretty quickly, so now the trio (along with their canine escorts) were currently sitting in class, waiting for their teacher with everyone else.

Not ten minutes into their wait, a raven haired woman dressed in what appeared to be numerous strips of cloth over a single sleeved mesh shirt, with her forearms and thighs were covered in normal bandages.

"Team eight," she called, her three students standing up almost immediately, "to the roof, now," the jonin instructed, before leaving the room. Without a single word, team eight followed.

-X-

Kurenai sat upon the steel fencing running around the edge of the roof, completely heedless of the fall behind her as her piercing crimson eyes gazed at the three forms of her students, her eyes lingering quite a bit on the two beasts that seemed to be following her blonde charge. All three, in turn, looked straight up towards her, faces completely sober. It was far from the usual overconfidence that other new graduates seemed to be quite abundant in, which was something the genjutsu mistress was happy about. A serious team meant she could focus most of her attention on teaching them what to do in the field rather than having to try and discipline them all the time.

"Since the four of us will be working as a team from now on, I think it's only right that we get to know each other. So why don't we start things off by introducing yourselves."

"If that's the case, then why don't you go first, sensei? After all, out of the four of us, you're the one that we know the least about," Naruto countered, his expression betraying no emotions.

For a moment, Kurenai eyed the blonde haired boy rather curiously, as if gauging him. "That's a reasonable request," the genjutsu mistress started. "My name is Yuhi Kurenai. My likes are creating or learning genjutsu. My dislikes include people who think that I can't be a good ninja because I'm a woman, and those who cannot reign in their perversity. I don't really have much of a hobby, but my goal, as of now, is to help all three of you accomplish whatever it is you became ninja for."

The pointed look sent his way was enough of an indication for Naruto as to who the genjutsu mistress wanted to speak next. "Uzumaki Naruto. There aren't really many things I like that don't involve fighting and getting stronger, but I do favour my vassals like Agni and Rudra over there," he paused, pointing behind him where the two horned wolves were now lying down on the paved roof. "The only thing I really dislike is losing against someone close to my level. My hobbies are finding all sorts of new guns and swords to experiment fighting with. As for my goal… well… that's something I'd rather keep secret."

Kurenai couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at the blonde's introduction. She honestly didn't know what to think about what the boy had just said. There was nothing in his tone that suggested anything all that bad. Most people turning out to be psychotic, bloodthirsty, sadistic maniacs tended to either be very open about it, or very reclusive, so it probably wasn't that. If anything, it sounded like he really wanted nothing more than to fight… which was odd, since the reports said that he usually got bored of the spars in the academy.

_"I guess he didn't find them challenging enough. He must be really good if he can feel bored while taking on two of his year's best."_

All oddities aside, Kurenai gave Naruto a satisfied nod before turning her attention to the lone female of the group. There was something about this girl… something she just couldn't seem to place. Still, she was to be her teacher, provided they pass the next test, so she'd either find out eventually or have it out of her hair.

"My name is Hyuga Hinata," the lavender eyed girl started, earning her own curious look from the genjutsu mistress. The Hyuga girl paid no heed though and simply continued with her intro. "My likes… cinnamon buns would do I guess. I don't like people who are prejudice towards others. Flower pressing is the only real hobby I've ever had. There are two things I want to achieve in my life: to change my clan for the better, even if I have to do it by force, and to create a revised version of the Juken that best suits me."

By then, Kurenai's curiosity had truly skyrocketed. The fact that the academy profiles got Naruto's general personality wrong was understandable. The blonde had been in Konoha for no more than a month, so there wasn't really much time to analyse him properly. Plus if her hunch about him was correct, they probably wouldn't have gotten a good read on him unless one of the chunins decided to test the boy. There was also the general discrimination trying to make him out to be an brutish idiot, but that was easy enough to spot and ignore.

Hinata though… the girl had gone a long seven years in the academy, more than half her life acting the same way: shy, polite and quiet. For her to make such a drastic change in such short notice was… nothing short of astonishing.

When it was Naruto, she didn't know what to think about the situation. When it came to Hinata, she was completely confused. On one hand, the Hyuga girl's shyness was something she had wanted to work on; something beneficial for both her and her team, and now it was already done for her. On the other hand, the fact that her change came from practically out of nowhere was very worrisome. Either Hinata had hid her true self behind a shy mask this entire time, an idea which was, in all honesty, laughable, considering what she had apparently had to put up with from her clan, or something had happened to the girl to change her in no time flat; an equally laughable idea, when considering how big such an event needed to be. Oh if Kurenai only knew how right she was.

"…-sei."

"…-ensei."

"Sensei!"

The clearly irritated outburst from the genjutsu mistress's blonde student brought her out of her internal musings.

"Hmm… ah yes, Naruto, what is it?" she asked, her mind finally back from its inner depths, letting her focus on the scowling genin.

"We've all finished talking. What're we supposed to do now?" Naruto inquired, rather brashly at that; his arms crossed over his chest, clearly impatient. Beside him, Hinata herself also wore a slight frown.

A light flush crossed over the genjutsu mistress's features, feeling embarrassed about apparently missing her third student's introduction. Still, she wasn't going to be shaken easily, she was already back to her teaching mindset, trying to cover up her lapse in attention as best as she could with a serious demeanour.

"Right. Well, first of, let me just say that while you did pass the academy graduation exam, it doesn't mean that you're to become genin yet. Now that all the 'weeds' have removed from the garden, so to say, the three of you are going to have to take another test, this time to ensure that you really have what it takes to go out on the field."

"What kind of test?" questioned Hinata.

Kurenai allowed a small smirk to cross her lips. "Follow me, and you'll find out."

-X-

Training ground sixteen was quite unlike most of the typical Konoha training grounds. While not as different as the forest of death, it was certainly not as open. Whereas most training grounds were composed of a central open field surrounded by trees, training ground sixteen was pretty much nothing more than a fenced off part of the forest.

It was in one of the few open spots in this forest where the newly formed team eight were currently standing. "While your test won't be easy, the objective is simple. I'm going to be hiding somewhere in this forest. What you three have to do is find and subdue me. Your time limit is two hours. Any questions?"

Kurenai was answered with silence as her students' bodies tensed in anticipation. Giving them a satisfied nod, she moved over to a tree at the end of the small glade, placing an alarm clock at its base.

"One final advice: come at me with the intent to kill. Your time starts… now." In a puff of smoke, she was gone from sight, surprising each of her students, though none of them outwardly showed it.

For a while, the three just stood there, silently keeping still, scanning the area around them. The slight buzzing sound that was usually silent around Shino increased in volume, now being audible to his two teammates. The veins around Hinata's eyes bulged out as she used her Byakugan.

"I take it you weren't able to place a bug on her, Shino?" Naruto inquired, breaking the silence that had swallowed them not moments before.

The bug user nodded in confirmation. "It seems Kurenai-sensei had thought quite far ahead. From the very beginning, the person we met was a clone. A shadow clone to be more precise, if the way it dispersed is any indication."

A small frown made its way to Naruto's lips at the news. "Hmm… I guess that means we'll have to start from square one then. Hinata, do you see anything?"

The Hyuga girl shook her head. "No. It seems sensei was already well prepared to take on my Byakugan. There's a multilayered visual genjutsu affecting the whole training ground, nothing too complex, but it's good enough to block out even my sight."

At that, Naruto's frown deepened as he gave a nod. "If that's the case, then she's likely to have prepared for Shino's bugs as well," he noted, right before a smile crossed his face. "Agni! Rudra!" the mystic beasts' reacted almost immediately at their masters call, going from their relaxed positions to right in front of the demon prince. "Track Kurenai-sensei down ASAP. We're dealing with a jonin here. No slacking off, you two know the drill when dealing with stuff like this."

The order was clear and absolute, and obeyed without pause. The two hounds from hell were already sniffing the earth before Naruto had even finished with his command.

Shino's brow rose in curiosity at the sight. "Naruto-san, are you sure those two can handle this? Kurenai-sensei, isn't a jonin for no reason. She's likely to have prepared for this sort of situation." noted, fixing his teammate with a curious gaze.

"True enough," the blonde answered. "However, all things considering, she likely only made enough preparations for a tracker of an Inuzuka's calibre. These two are on a completely different level."

Before any other words could be said, Agni and Rudra stiffened, their heads suddenly snapping towards the east. Waiting only long enough for the three humanoids to notice, the mystic beasts raced off towards the direction of their quarry.

"Seems they've found our elusive teacher. You might want to get your bugs ready just in case," suggested the blonde, right before dashing off towards the pair, Hinata hot on his heels. Shino didn't linger for long either, and followed soon after.

"She'll leave false trails you know. We can't just rely on your companions," advised the bug user as they jumped across the tree line.

The smile on Naruto's face was the last reaction Shino expected. "If we lose her scent, which is unlikely, then I'll still have you two to rely on for tracking. We're a team, after all."

-X-

"_So he did bring them."_

Those were the thoughts running through Kurenai's head as she moved through the forest as stealthily as she could, leaving as many false trails as she could to confuse her students. The test wasn't supposed to be impossible, but there was no chance for any of her students to find her on their own. They'd need Hinata's eyes to find any hidden, physical indicators of where she went, Shino's insects to track down whatever residual chakra she left while there were no other tracks, and finally, Naruto's hounds to find her when nothing but scent remained.

Originally, she wanted the Inuzuka boy from the class, and prepared the test as such, but this was just as good. In fact, it might even be possible with two canines, her team would end up getting more confused on the first leg of the chase.

Scent, sight, and chakra. Each ring of the forest, starting from the central point where her students had been, was altered with genjutsu so only a single ability would be effective in each area. In other words, not cooperating would have led to failure of the mission. She wasn't expecting them to actually subdue her, but if they showed teamwork by catching up to her and fighting her, they'd pass. It was all that was needed, after all. Now Kurenai only needed to get to the second 'ring' in the forest. Not much of a problem. The genjutsu mistress left enough leads to confuse any normal tracking beast, and with them, their owners.

… Unfortunately, it wasn't any normal beast she was dealing with. The crimson eyed jonin found that out rather quickly when the twin canine creatures came at her from both sides.

Kurenai's eyes widened as they lunged at her mid-jump, their teeth, claws and horns all poised and very capable of taking down anything in their way. In less than a second, one of the beasts had managed to bite the side of her stomach, while the other stabbed her at the base of her ribs, going diagonally upwards, it's paws digging into her abdomen and back.

It would have made for a rather grim end, had the teacher not disappeared in a puff of smoke, a now heavily damaged log in her previous place. Amazing how the most basic of skills can become the greatest life savers.

"Wow… pretty quick recovery there. I guess you really do deserve to be a jonin."

The familiar voice brought the illusionist's attention towards the spot of the forest her ambushers had just come from. Sure enough, Uzumaki Naruto was standing where the sleek, purple beast had suddenly pounced from, looking up to the tree branch she was currently situated in. On the other side, she took notice of the arrival of her lone female student.

"_Dammit! How'd they catch up to me so fast? I was sure_ _it would have at least taken them a good thirty minutes to get through the first ring. And I'm low on chakra to boot. Guess I'll have to bide my time then._

In her mad mental rush to find something to distract her two students, Kurenai decided to inquire about a second concerning matter. "Did Shino decide to do this on his own, or is he waiting to ambush me?"

It was a foolish question really. There was no reason to believe the Aburame boy wasn't waiting in ambush; in fact, it was the most likely situation. The only reason she actually asked was to see her two students' reactions; which would have told her everything she needed to know. In situations like this, genin tended to react in one of three ways: they would either tense up in some way and try to lie about it, freeze up at having their plan figured out so easily, or –the preferred response– improvise quickly to make up for the fact that their ambush was found out.

This was a way for her to judge her students' mindset, and she honestly hoped both would take action, but there was no telling just how they'd respond. That didn't mean she wasn't prepared to deal with any of the three possibilities… which was why she was thrown off completely by Naruto's flippant shrug. "He didn't agree with my plan," he said, as if it explained everything. Considering the fact that Naruto didn't show even the slightest sign of lying, this may have very well been the case.

Kurenai just had to stop there. She may not have known Shino much. Hell, she knew even less about him personally than she did her two other students. What the genjutsu mistress did know was that he was an Aburame, a clan of excellent scouts and strategists, second only to the Nara clan. For him to disagree with a plan could be considered normal, but if he wasn't here, did that mean he was going to try and take her out on his own? Surely no member of the Aburame would do something so foolish… right?

Neither of her two students seemed at all eager to let her contemplate such thoughts as they charged at her, Hinata with a palm strike, a dark pink glow surrounding it to tell her just how serious she was about the test, and Naruto with… an odd tonfa? Was that what the thing on his belt was?

Not willing to let her curious mind get the better of her, the crimson eyed jonin leaped away from the branch she was standing on and onto another, right before Hinata and Naruto struck; both of them landing on her previous perch.

A hail of shuriken followed quickly from the midnight haired heiress, forcing her into another jump, this time landing on the ground.

"Gail storm!" a shout, followed by the muffled sound of an explosion, not unlike an exploding tag blared throughout the tree line. Red eyes widened as they stared at the blast of slicing wind baring down upon their owner.

Again, Kurenai was forced to dodge, and quite glad she did so. The spot she had previously occupied was now covered with deep gouges. Kurenai wasn't quite sure what to think about that. On one hand, it seemed as though her students were taking her seriously when she told them to try to kill her. On the other hand… well, she definitely didn't expect any of them to be able to do so.

_"How did he even do that?"_ Kurenai asked herself, her eyes focused on the blonde teen, now holding the strange contraption in his hand with longer side pointed at her. It didn't take much of a genius to guess what had happened.

So focused was the kunoichi she nearly missed her fellow female coming at her from the ground with a double palm thrust. Eyes narrowed, the illusionist swerved to the side, dodging the younger kunoichi's attempted strike before making a grab for her arm, pulling the girl towards a knee strike.

A close combat expert she may not be, but she was still a jonin, and a jonin incapable of taijutsu was an impossibility. The genjutsu mistress followed up her attack with a swift kick to the girl's head, only for it to be dodged, Hinata countering quickly with three well placed jabs that effectively weakened her right leg before the shawl clad ninja made a hasty retreat.

"Acerbatus!"(2)

Once more, another loud shot was heard, with the sound of rushing energy following it right afterwards. A single glance upwards revealed an orb of goldenrod energy heading straight for her, and for a fraction of a second, she was still.

In that small moment, a chill went up her spine, not unlike what one would feel if they were in the presence of a large amount of killer intent, unprepared. Kurenai could almost swear she could hear the lament of a hundred humans in excruciating agony, mixed in with sounds of howling wind. Distorted wisps whipped around the orb, like the souls of men and women alike, torn asunder and trapped within, giving it power and form.

And then the moment passed and the jonin regained her nerves enough to dodge back once more, the blast zone of the attack leaving a foot deep crater billowing with dust and smoke. Unfortunately, with only one leg to work with, she was sent sprawling to the ground, her elbows supporting her as she tried to sit up.

This was something she had not expected: to be put on the defensive. Even more, she was already feeling tired, something that truly puzzled her. She had used a quite a bit of her chakra supply in preparation for the test, true, but that wasn't to say she was close to empty. Far from it. She had more than enough to conjure up a genjutsu that would have been good against three genin. The only way for her to have lost this much chakra was… if…

Realization dawned on the jonin, her eyes widening at the only possibility. For a moment, she focused her attention to her sense of touch, and sure enough, felt the unmistakable sensation of having small creatures crawling on her sleeved arm and torso. She was being drained by Shino's Kikaichu(3), and they were draining her fast.

_"So that's their strategy: distract me with a continuous attack to keep me from noticing Shino's insect. Simple, but effective. Heh… I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake, believing Naruto like that. I guess he has a bit of skill when it comes to hiding the truth, he didn't tense up at all earlier."_

She actually felt happy about that. It meant her team was at least better than the average genin group. They got lucky with those… canines, was the best word to describe them, that helped them track her down, and the speed at which they reached her spoke volumes of just how well they did; capitalized on their advantage immediately.

All three of them also worked together from the very beginning, which was basically the whole point of the test, so they already managed to pass, but they also took her 'aim to kill' advice to heart. Add in Naruto's strange attacks and a sound plan to drain her and you had a tired genjutsu user with little chakra and a paralyzed leg, facing off against a Hyuga genin who was, –from what she'd seen– faster than the average members of her clan at the same level, an Aburame who continued to drain even more of her reserves, and a third genin, quite possibly the strongest combatant and armed with a sword and another strange weapon that seemed to shoot out razor winds and energy blasts.

All in all, it would probably be better to just pass them now rather than see just how much of her 'come at me with the intent to kill' advice they were going to take literally.

It was just as Hinata emerged from out of the smoke from Naruto's last attack, palms primed and poised to strike when her decision was finalized. Perhaps if she were at full power, this situation was escapable. It was still escapable even now, but chances are, she wouldn't really make much of a comeback after that. Besides, they already passed.

"Yame!"(4)

All movement stopped immediately, the smoke of the earlier blast now having fully dissipated to reveal Naruto, now with a pair of oddly shaped swords looking as though he was about to charge her; how the blonde had gotten his hands on them, she wasn't quite sure, but that wasn't really her business. Moments later, Shino came out of his hiding spot from behind her and made his way towards his teammates, the Kikaichu on the genjutsu mistress' legs retreating towards him as he passed.

A proud smile spread across Kurenai's face as she tried her best to stand, a burning sensation spreading through her numbed leg. "A good strategy, excellent teamwork, and no hesitation to capitalize on any opportunity presented to you. Very few academy graduates can ever say that they had all three of those qualities when they first take this test. As your sensei, I'm proud to say that all three of you have passed."

There was no celebration, no cry of joy, and certainly no sign that the three students were relieved. Instead, a pair of victorious smiles (or smirk, in Naruto's case) made its way to her more expressive students, with the last one simply giving a simple nod. It made Kurenai's all the wider.

"I must say, all three of you showed quite a bit of skill to earn this. Hinata, your skills in your family style, and your speed and manoeuvrability, overall were definitely far from what the academy had informed me of. The way you attacked was undoubtedly top par for someone of your age. Your family should be proud."

The slight wince behind the girls accepting smile was not missed by the crimson eyed kunoichi, and she made a note to find out exactly what that was about. Now wasn't exactly the time for that though, as she moved on, this time turning her gaze to the bug user.

"Shino, tell me, was this whole thing planned by you?" The Aburame nodded in response. "If that's the case, then I have to commend you for it. While your plan was simplistic, it was nonetheless efficient in accomplishing the intended objective. Your stealth skills are also quite good for a genin, so be proud of it."

"And finally, you, Naruto," she said, turning her attention to the still smirking blonde. Kurenai shook her head. "I don't know what kind of techniques you used when you attacked me earlier, but they were certainly impressive. A bit loud, perhaps, but good for dealing out strong surprise attacks. Your accuracy is also quite impressive. What's more, your ability to stay completely neutral while lying can be a very important factor in your ninja career."

Naruto's brow raised a little at that comment. "Lie? When did I lie?" he asked, genuinely confused, a sentiment which seemed to suddenly become mutual on his teacher's face.

"You said that Shino was trying to take the test alone. With the way you acted, I really did honestly did believe you for a second."

Once more, the blonde gave her a curious glance. "What are you… oh!" he suddenly shouted, apparently just now remembering what he did. "I wasn't lying about that. Shino really did disagree with my plan. He said it himself, this was his idea. My plan pretty much consisted of tracking and ganging up on you."

For a moment, Kurenai's eyes widened in surprise, right before she started twitching. Inwardly, she felt as though a great part of her dignity was just stripped from her. _"A MISTAKE! I was tricked by my own stupid MISTAKE!"_

-X-

And that's it for chapter seven. Honestly, I didn't really know why it took me this long to finish this, but it's done now, Hope you all enjoyed it.

(1) Rough translation- Teacher's ninja art: Giant head technique. Just thought I'd give Iruka's oh so popular ability an official name.

(2) Again, this is a tribute to one of my all time favourite games. Not to mention one of my favourite game attacks.

(3) The official name of the beetles that the Aburame use, in case you weren't aware.

(4) Translation- Stop. Used mostly in sports and competitions such as martial arts competitions and such as a signal to end the round/game. Also used in sparring and exercise. It sounded more fitting here rather than just saying stop, considering that… well, telling a ninja about to attack you to stop just doesn't make much sense, even if it isn't a normal battle.

-X-

I mentioned earlier that I had some important news. My new beta reader, Kelenas mentioned at one point that my power scaling is just too biased to demons, and with a very good argument. It is because of that that I've' decided to change the power scaling system. Below, is the new ranking system.

Lvl-1 to 50: Average civilians. Level depending on health

Lvl-50-100: Academy students and the kindergarten level demons mentioned in an earlier chapter. Level depending on health and combat capability factors.

Lvl-100 to 200: Genin and lesser demons. Normal scope comparable to those shown in manga/anime.

Lvl-200 to 400: Chunin rank ninja and normal demons. Normal scope ability.

Lvl-400 to 600: Jonin rank ninja and low ranking, trained demons. Normal scope ability. Higher tier ninja of this level make up majority of A-rank ninja.

Lvl-600 to 1000: Kage rank ninja and lower officer rank battle demons. Normal scope ability. Lvl-700 and above are typically S-rank ninja.

Lvl-1000 to 2000: Demon lords, when at their prime. The tailed beasts fit into this level. Can destroy mountains with no trouble at all, even the less offence oriented kind.

Lvl-2000 to 4000: Higher demon lords. Can destroy whole continents with little effort.

Lvl-4000 to 6000: Average overlord level demons. Can destroy large planets.

Lvl-6000 to 8000: Very powerful overlord class demons. The ten generals fit at the top of this level. Think SS2/3/4 Goku, depending on level.

Lvl-8000 to 9999: Top class overlords (Laharl, Adell, Zetta, Pram, etc.). Makes the universal spirit bomb look like a low grade grenade.

Nothing else changes much apart from that, but that's pretty much it. Thanks for reading.


	8. Chapter 8

And we're back with chapter eight. The official start of the 'Land of Waves' arc begins here. I can't really say much more without this thing becoming a spoiler, so just read on and keep reading. You know you want to.

Oh, and also, I'm happy to announce that all the previous chapters have now been re-edited to eliminate as much error as possible. Make sure to go through them. I've changed a few small parts of the story to better fit with some new idea I decided to implement, along with the corrections. You can thank Kelenas for those, by the way.

Fair warning, I took many liberties with Kurenai in this fic, so she's OOC in many ways.

As usual, I own nothing, and damn sad about it!

**Chapter VIII: Towards the misty road- Part1**

By what measure can one be considered a demon?... Heredity?... Power?... Their cruelty?... Or perhaps, a title alone?... Indeed, there are many in this world who claim the title of demon… some willingly, others by force.

On a mist laden path, one such man lies in wait. Will his title be nothing more than simple words… or, is it perhaps… a prophesy?

-X-

"I'm really getting tired of these stupid errands old man. Can't you give us a higher ranked mission? Even a C-class would do."

The flippant tone in the statement of one Uzumaki Naruto was like a pebble thrown in a still pool; the only sound that existed within the mission hall as nearly everyone within earshot sent him a shocked look.

The only exception were his ever-present mystic beasts, and the very same person he'd called an old man. It was a form of endearment Naruto had had for him as a child, and he couldn't have been happier that it had stuck even after all he'd been through and all he'd learned.

Plus, he did have a point. Naruto was certainly ready. Far beyond ready, actually, and he didn't need to worry about Hinata, either. Kurenai was a capable jonin and Shino, for all he lacked in experience, had a very good head on his shoulders. All in all, they were definitely ready for a C-rank by now.

"Don't talk to Hokage-sama like that, Naruto!" Apparently, Hiruzen's current assistant, and the three genins' former instructor, Iruka, thought otherwise. "You've only been genin for two weeks. You guys aren't ready for a C-rank mission."

Naruto bristled at that, clearly annoyed, and looked like he was about to counter the man's statement-

"Actually…"

-But he was beaten to the punch as Sarutobi made his decision known, rubbing his chin to feign contemplation. Both Kurenai and Iruka turned to their aging leader, eyes wide in surprise, practically shouting 'you can't be serious'.

"I think you might just be right, Naruto." The statement caused a smirk to appear on the boy's face, clearly pleased. "From the report given by Kurenai-san about your genin test, I think you might just be ready for this. You seem to have a good amount of power in combat and are very proficient with that… weapon you use," the sandaime reasoned, staring at the still unnamed device Naruto had used against his teacher.

"Hinata, despite her bad record in the academy, has shown incredible leaps in improving after the… graduation incident. And Shino does possess a very good mind for forming battle strategies." Finally, the old man nodded, as if confirming something to himself. "Yes, I believe your team is ready for a C-rank… that is, if your sensei agrees."

The sudden shift of everyone's attention from the Hokage towards her made Kurenai straighten up a little, but it passed soon enough. With a calm expression, she gave her reply: "If Hokage-sama believes that they are ready, then I have no need to think otherwise. I've seen firsthand just how capable my team is, and I believe they are more than capable of handling such a mission."

"Very well then. If that's the case, this-" Sarutobi held up a mission scroll, "-should be a good starting point for team eight," he said, handing the rolled parchment to the team's teacher.

With a slight bow, the genjutsu mistress returned to her original place beside her students before opening the scroll and going through its contents.

"An escort mission to the Nami no Kuni?(1)" Naruto read over her shoulders, his voice sounding a little bored. "Oh well. I suppose it'll do. At the very least, there might be some bandits along the way," the blonde stated, before turning back to the Hokage. "Says here our client's a bridge builder. Where is he?"

"Right over here!"

Their client –an old, bespectacled man with grey hair under a pointed straw hat– was flushed in the face and carrying a bottle undoubtedly filled with sake. The bridge builder seemed to be examining them just as much as they were him. (although it probably took more effort on his part)

"And… you are…?"

A grin quickly spread across the man's features at Naruto's question. "The name's Tazuna!" he announced in boisterous tone, "the super bridge builder hailing from Nami no kuni!"

…

…

Silence followed as Tazuna kept still in his introductory pose while the rest of the room simply stared at him as though he'd lost his mind, each of them sweatdropping. Even Shino portrayed an expression of exasperation, as subdued as it was.

In the end, it was Naruto who broke the silence as he turned his gaze back towards the aged fire shadow, his right eye twitching. "Hey… old man, is this fruit loop related to your old student by any chance?"

Completely ignoring the bridge builder's face fault, Sarutobi shook his head. "I don't believe so. Jiraiya's family was always a part of this village since its founding. Furthermore, Jiraiya himself was the oddball of his family."

"Oi! Don' just ignore me like that! Aren't I the one who's supposed to pay you! What kind of people go off and insult their clients?" Tazuna ranted indignantly, stomping like a kid.

Once more, he was ignored, causing him to grumble and look away; arms crossed with a grimace. It was then the man decided to take a look at his apparent protectors, and immediately, his grimace deepened.

"What's with this group of ninja anyway?" he questioned, frowning at the members of team eight. "I came so that I could get some ninja to protect me and you give me this!" the bridge builder shouted, now pointing at the group while facing the Hokage, a mixture of irritation and doubt clear on his face.

Both Sarutobi, as well as the whole of team eight bristled at that. "And just _what_ is wrong with my team, Tazuna-san?" Kurenai asked, keeping her voice stern, but polite; her eyes narrowed as much as they could without looking hostile.

"What's wrong?" the man replied incredulously, as if the answer should have been obvious. "You've got some punk brat with multicoloured hair that looks like he hasn't eaten in days, a blind girl trying to play witch, and a-"

That was as far as Tazuna got before he found the back edge of a violet blade at his throat and the flat end of what he assumed was some sort of other weapon poking at his spine.

"I would advise you not to speak ill of either me, or my team… Tazuna-san," the voice of the blonde boy said from behind him with obviously feigned politeness. Sweat quickly collected at his brow as the effects of the alcohol he'd taken faded with the sudden danger to his person. The bridge builder gulped, causing the skin on his neck to prick itself upon Naruto's nodachi. His eyes widened in fright as a sudden vision of screaming souls invaded his mind, a feeling of deep anguish shaking him to the core. Tazuna swore that he had heard the scream of over a thousand beings ringing in his head.

The sensation only stopped when the sword was withdrawn, bringing his mind back to his surroundings, yet the horror in his eyes never left. Not even Gato had instilled that much dread into him, even during Kaiza's public execution.

"Have I made myself clear?"

The simple question, laced with a hidden threat, shook the grey haired man out of his daze. Trembling, he turned to face the smirking visage of the boy who frightened him to the border of hysteria and gave a shaky nod. Tazuna swore the smile that appeared on Naruto's face was even more frightening than his smirk; like a predator that knew there was no rush to his prey, and that he could take his leisurely time devouring his meal.

"Good," Naruto replied, quickly walking past him and towards his team, where his teacher was giving him a look of equal parts surprise and annoyance. Tazuna gulped once more and noticed the feel of liquid on his neck, causing his eyes to widen. With a shaky hand, he reached for the area until the fluid touched his fingers before bringing it up to his face. He was bleeding.

As a bridge builder, Tazuna knew very little about swords, but in a land filled with so many assassins, ronin and samurai, there were quite a few pieces of general knowledge concerning weapons. One such piece of knowledge was that only the finest of blades could cut at the level of contact he'd had with it. Another was that messing with people who held them was generally stupid.

"When will you be leaving, Tazuna-san?"

It took a precious few moments before the question registered in the old man's head. His eyes turned towards team eight's jonin as she looked at him expectantly.

"Umm… to… tomorrow. At… dawn," he stuttered out, receiving a nod of acceptance.

The bridge builder outright ignored whatever order she'd given to her team and made his way out of the room, fully intent on reaching his hotel room and drinking himself into a stupor.

-X-

Travelling with a civilian, –a _human _civilian, at that– Naruto decided, was a very boring affair. Not only did it mean they had to travel at Tazuna's pace, but hardly anything interesting happened at all. Sure, there were those snippets of conversation between his sensei and the bridge builder, but that was mostly about stuff concerning their job that he really didn't feel was necessary information. Really, who cares how long the bridge will take to be built, they'd have to guard him the whole time either way.

It was a disappointment, really. True, it had only been a good six to seven hours of a trip that would likely take multiple days, but couldn't a bunch of bandits attack already? _"I'm going to go crazy if something doesn't happen soon. Someone try to ambush us already!"_

As if reading his mind, Agni and Rudra both suddenly perked up, light growls emanating from them as they stared at a hill ahead; an action noticed by everyone else in the group. All of them stopped in their strides as team eight tensed, ready for combat.

"Kurenai-sensei, there are two ninja hiding in holes covered by genjutsu on the other side of this hill," reported Hinata, her enhanced doujutsu flaring to life. The sudden rigidness of Tazuna's body did not go unnoticed by her and she chose to store the information away for what would evidently become an interrogation.

"Threat level?" Kurenai asked coolly, her eyes narrowing further, sending a sideways glance towards her team's client. He was starting to sweat, a sign that he knew something bad was going to happen.

"Their genjutsu isn't very good, and the fact that they are disguising themselves as puddles pretty much screams stupid, but their weapons indicate a good level of physical power. They're also wearing the Kiri headband. Primary weapon seems to be a gauntlet that connects the two with a razor chain."

"Shino, chakra level?" came the raven haired jonin's next command.

The Aburame heir stood still for a moment, letting his bugs taste the air before returning back to hm. "At least chunin level, both of them."

"Should we hit them with a pre-emptive strike, sensei?" Naruto inquired, his visage completely serious as his left hand clutched his gun, practically itching to start a fight.

Kurenai 'hmm-ed', contemplating their plan of action. "They're too close to Konoha for anything other than passive intelligence or espionage but… they could be there for interception as well," she thought out loud, "There's a possibility that they could be after our client. However…"

"We cannot be certain if we are the intended targets?" Shino supplied, tuning towards the genjutsu mistress to confirm whether he was right. A nod was his answer.

"Well if that's the case, maybe a diversion then?" Naruto suggested, drawing all eyes to him and prompting him to explain. "I'm more than capable of using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to produce five clones. Assuming they won't try to dispel it, which is unlikely as the chakra pulse would make it difficult for them to perform an ambush, a simple henge should be able to draw them out."

Once more, Kurenai contemplated the plan, going through its pros and cons. It was a solid strategy, with very little disadvantages. Not one which she would opt to use against a smarter opponent, but as Hinata had pointed out earlier, the (assumed) chunin were disguised as puddles… during Hi no kuni's(2) dry season, something which was infamously known amongst other countries.

"Very well then," the jonin decided, turning to address her students. "Shino, Hinata, I want the two of you to stay with Tazuna-san and pass them through the forest. Naruto, you're with me. Take to the trees as soon as you make your shadow clones. Make sure to attack _only_ if they target us. Also, have Agni and Rudra stay with the rest, just in case. We'll regroup on the bend in the road. Understood?"

With three simultaneous nods, followed by a short command from Naruto, they all took to their appointed tasks. Soon enough, seven disguised clones walked over the hill separating them from their possible ambushers, all the while being shadowed by Naruto and Kurenai from the tree line.

Sure enough, as soon as the group of seven passed by the 'innocent puddles' a pair of ninja, both garbed in camouflage clothing rose from the water. They lunged towards their 'unsuspecting' targets at high speed, binding the older female of the group before pulling it hard.

Their overconfidence made the surprised looks on their faces as the fake jonin's body disintegrated into smoke all the more enjoyable to see, Naruto decided, right before aiming his gun at them. The loud bang was all the warning they got before a bullet of condensed youki struck one of them on his hitai-ate, ultimately saving his life, but knocking him unconscious, and possibly fracturing his skull.

The second of the two shinobi could only watch in shock as his partner fell, stopping him in his tracks. Kurenai took that moment to appear behind him, stepping out of a tree similar to how the brothers had done with the water.

The second Kiri nin barely had time to turn around before a kunai was stabbed into the side of his neck. The man's body went rigid for a moment, right before he dropped down to the ground, lifeless.

Naruto dropped down from his perch besides the genjutsu mistress as soon as the body went limp, gazing down towards their would-be ambusher's carcass, and then at the still living one.

"Kurenai-sensei," he called out, catching his teacher's attention. "If I'm not mistaken, these two are listed within the bingo books as nuke-nin(3)."

Hearing the blonde's statement caused Kurenai's brow to arch in curiosity. "Oh, you've gone through the bingo books? Quite prising for a genin," she commented, to which Naruto shrugged.

"Skimmed through it once last night. Best to be prepared," he reasoned, which wasn't entirely false. He'd gone through the bingo book the night before, yes, but he'd gotten a copy of the most recent one right after arriving, trying to find any possible information on the people in his own personal bingo book.

"Well you're right," Kurenai confirmed, none too enthusiastically. Clearly, she remembered everything about their entries. "These two are known as the Oni Kyoudai(4), Gouzu and Meizu. Chunin rank nuke-nin from Kirigakure. Lower B-class threat level, known to mainly use poison and collaboration techniques. Specialised in assassination."

Naruto snorted at the last part. "Clearly, they've never done any assassination missions in Hi no Kuni during this time of year… nor in Kaze no Kuni(5), for that matter."

Kurenai nodded in agreement. "It would seem so. Their mistakes were rather amateurish for their supposed level of skill," she added, walking over to the still living body. "Still, the fact that they attacked us, despite being nuke-nin, can only mean two things: either they hate Konoha, something which is rather unlikely as none of our other forces have been recorded to have been attacked in such a manner, or-"

"They were after the old man," Naruto cut in, a fox like smirk spread on his lips. "Well, then, looks like this mission just got more interesting."

"And dangerous," the crimson eyed jonin said harshly, "the demon brothers are known for working under a former member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu(6): Momochi Zabuza. A former ANBU and A-rank nuke-nin."

Naruto only shrugged at that bit of (already known) information, much to Kurenai's ire. "So?" he asked flippantly. "Zabuza _may_ be an A-rank, but he's just one person. You're a jonin and we have a total of five other members on the team, myself included. Unless he's working with somebody else, I think that there's a good chance we can beat him with no casualties, so there's hardly any reason to back out of this mission."

For a moment, the genjutsu mistress looked like she was about to argue, only for her to relent moments afterwards, bringing a grin to Naruto's face. "Fine then. We'll get the info from this guy," she said, pointing towards the unconscious ninja, "as well as the client. _Then_ we'll decide whether to go back or not."

With a final nod of agreement, Naruto wordlessly picked up the living ninja, complete with metal gauntlets, –a feat that came as a surprise to his teacher– and stood waiting beside her.

It took only a few seconds, but in the end, Kurenai simply shook off her shock. Naruto was an oddity. It was something she had decided early in her time as his instructor. A fact she partially attributed to his status as a jinchuuriki (as far as she and everyone else barring the shinobi council knew, anyway). That said, the genjutsu mistress quickly sealed the corpse into a scroll before nodding to her student.

They were gone before long, dashing across the road to the agreed rendezvous point.

-X-

When he'd heard Tazuna's story first hand, Naruto wasn't sure whether he wanted to kill the guy for tricking them, or praise him for having the balls to lie to a kage. Then again, because of him, he currently had the chance to meet what was possibly one of the best challenges he'd get in this world, so the blonde was leaning more to the latter. After all, though he was sure Zabuza wouldn't be as powerful as a majority of the wannabe dethroners he'd fought before, he was still a ninja, and something he learned firsthand when training with the Zan'ei was that ninja didn't need to be stronger than their opponents to win, just craftier.

"Alright then, the remaining demon brother is still out cold, but I believe we have enough information to make a decision," Kurenai announced. "So then, should we continue on this mission or head back?"

Naruto was the first to respond. "I say we keep going. If this Gato guy really is behind all this, then he likely wouldn't have hired too many ninja. Not only would it have cost a lot to hire more than one group of nuke-nin just for Tazuna-san's capture, but a lot more of those nuke-nin should have attacked us already if that were the case. I think it's safe to assume that we only have to worry about Zabuza."

Shino 'hmm-ed' at the blonde's statement. "Naruto-san has a point. Nuke-nin are notoriously known for their high hiring price, so it is very probable it will only be the ones associated with the Oni Kyoudai we will encounter. But the question is: can we beat him?"

"I think we should be able to pull it off," Hinata replied. "Our team itself is very diverse in how we can fend off an opponent. With a good enough strategy, it shouldn't be impossible to succeed without any casualties."

"So you're all in agreement then?" Kurenai cut in, looking at the three of them with exasperation. She sighed when the trio nodded their heads in confirmation. "Alright then. I suppose, if all three of you are so headstrong about this, then I can't really disagree, now can I?"

It was a lie, of course. As their jonin sensei, she had every right to command them, and Kurenai was fairly certain all three of her students knew it. The only reason she was willing to go through with this whole thing was because of how the man had described Nami's situation. If his words were true, then Gato had turned the land into his own mini-empire, ruling like any other tyrant, and despite being a jonin, she couldn't once even get the idea that it would have been okay to leave it be through her mind.

It was a trait she made sure to keep hidden, whether amongst her students, or her colleagues. Ninja were supposed to be able to throw away their emotions for what was best for their comrades first, and their village second. That was Konoha's unwritten creed. Yet, here she was, risking her students' lives all because she felt sorry for a village not her own. Tue, her students had chosen for themselves, but Kurenai was convinced no other jonin could ever be dumb enough to allow such a thing to happen.

"It's decided then," she announced, tuning around to face the bridge builder. "Tazuna-san, we will continue to protect you until the bridge you are building is finished. However, we expect you to pay Konoha back for what is now obviously an A-rank mission. Can you agree to those terms?"

"Ye-Yes! Of course! Thank you!" the bridge builder answered, tears brimming at the edge of his eyes.

Kurenai though, ignored all this and simply addressed her students once more. "It's getting late. We'll set up camp here for the night." Again, her three students nodded in understanding. Twilight had already set in by the time that Tazuna had finished his rather elaborate description of the conditions in wave and the bridge builder himself was tired, mentally and physically, so it wasn't like continuing on was a good idea.

-X-

Night time. Naruto's lookout shift…

"Agni. Rudra." The calls were silent, causing the barest of sounds even in the dead of night, and yet, and yet, they were still heard by those they were intended for. The twin canines approached him quietly, knowing full well that secrecy was required whenever they were called in such a way.

"I have a job for you two," he announced, not even turning towards his lupine vassals.

"Rudra, I want you to go back to the Namikaze estate and retrieve the book for me. It seems I'll have a need for it later. Make sure to keep the number of people that see you to a minimum. Be back by sunrise."

"Agni, I want you make a trip to the netherworld for me." It made Naruto smile a little when neither of the two showed any measure of surprise at that statement. A testament to just how well they'd been trained to ensure no emotion would betray them in times of business "I'll activate the gate leaidng to my quarters. Once there, I want you look for the Jyusho(7). Tell him I want to have someone look for a pair of prinnies named Meizu and Gouzu. They should recognize the title of Oni Kyoudai, if they're the right ones."

"Go, now!"

Both mystic beasts bowed. "As you command, Naruto-sama," they chorused in distinctively rough voices, before Rudra ran off to do his duty. Agni left only moments later, once Naruto opened the mystic gate that led to his personal quarters.

"It's going to be an interesting day tomorrow," the blonde muttered to himself. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small scroll, unrolling to reveal an intricate seal. After a few drops of blood followed by a puff of smoke, a gun made itself home on top of the long script; a separate cylindrical object lying near it.

With doting fondness, Naruto clasped the gun in his right hand. It was smaller than his usual weapon. _A lot_ smaller. A simple, pitch black handgun, the barrel only an inch longer than his index finger where he to extend it while clutching the handle. Gleaming blue lines ran through it, forming intricate patterns all over the weapon. At the portion of the handle not covered by his hand, Five names were inscribed in the same azure colour: Adell, Rozalin, Gaius, Evelyn, and Sena.

"You know, even though I usually use Nether Reaper, and love to experiment with all sorts of guns, this one will always be my favourite," he started. "It's name is Azure Wing, the gun my cousin gave me on my ninth birthday, and the first gun I ever used. Despite its small size, it's actually pretty powerful, capable of condensing enough youki to flood this entire camp site into a bullet the size of a tooth."

"What's more, the way the bullet is moulded ensures there's absolutely no sound when it bursts, which makes it a good assassination weapon… if it weren't for the sound produced by the firing, anyway. But that's what the silencer is for." As he said that, the blonde prince took the cylinder that remained on the scroll and fitted it onto the end of the barrel, before pointing the gun towards a tree. A tree where the remaining demon brother was tied to.

"I really do hate eavesdroppers, Meizu-san. We have enough information regarding our current mission to continue on, so you aren't really needed any more. Kurenai-sensei said that we were going to leave you for ANBU to pick up, but she never said that you had to be alive, and since you're about to cut yourself loose…"

He trailed off from there, aiming the suppressed Azure Wing towards the now frantic nuke-nin as he hastened his attempt to escape, using a small kunai that, Naruto assumed, was likely hidden on his person. "It's too late for that, Meizu-san. Relax, I've already done as much as I can to ensure that you find your brother in the netherworld."

An audible click sounded out throughout the clearing, followed by a soft whirring as the silencer began rotating. A dark, purple glow emanated from the tip of the weapon as energy seeped out of Naruto and into the hell-forged firearm. "Rasendan.(8)"

A flash of light zooming towards him and the feel of a miniature drill piercing through his stomach were the last things Meizu experienced before all was forfeit to Darkness.

A melancholy smile etched its way onto Naruto's features. "Sorry, but you're better off being with your brother."

-X-

A comparatively short chapter after the last two or three, but a chapter nonetheless. I wanted to save the Zabuza fight for later. So you guys are going to have to wait a while for that one.

(1)- Nami no kuni: Land of Waves (this and the next two are things most Naruto fans should already know, but just in case)

(2)- Hi no kuni: Land of Fire

(3)- nuke-nin: Missing/Rogue ninja

(4)- Oni Kyoudai: Demon Brothers (I'm going with the Japanese names for any sort of title)

(5)- Kaze no kuni: Land of Wind

(6)- Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu: Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist (I might just make this the exception for the whole title bit)

(7)- Jyusho: Beast General. Guess who.

(8)- Rasendan: Spiralling Bullet. A variant of the Rasengan fired from a gun. Can only be used with his personal gun Azure Wing.

A fresh pile of cookies goes to the first reviewer that figures out where Azure Wing's inspiration came from. (There's a big hint in the gun's description.)


	9. Chapter 9

And we're back with chapter nine. I've been waiting to write this chapter for a while now, so I hope I don't disappoint you with Zabuza and Haku's entry.

That said though, I'm pretty sure that some of you out there are going to be pretty angry with me for releasing another short chapter, but in my defence, while combining this and the last chapter would have been great, I wouldn't have not only gotten this part up to its current quality (story-wise. Half or possibly more of the spelling and grammatical quality is thanks to my Beta), but I think the joint scenes would have taken some excitement away from each other.

And again, I do not own anything from Naruto or Disgaea, or whichever other franchise I take ideas from.

**Chapter IX: Towards the Misty Road- Part2**

The mist hides a thousand mysteries. Some grand, others horrifying. But with mystery, therein also a lies a guardian in wait. A demon wielding a hellish blade sits patiently, priming his sword and shadow to guard that which rests beyond the mist laden path.

-X-

"Thanks again for the ride."

The ferryman who had carried the small group to their destinationlooked at the bridge builder and shook his head. "Don't thank me just yet. We're still in a bad spot as it is. If you really want to thank me, finish building that bridge of yours. Fast."

He rowed off afterwards, not even giving Tazuna a chance to reply before they continued towards the aging man's hometown.

This close to their destination team eight was on guard now more than ever, surrounding Tazuna in a hexagonal formation. Hinata and Shino took the upper flanks while Agni and Rudra took the lower ones, all of them using their own tracking abilities to seek out any possible ambushers; with Hinata concealing her Byakugan's usual tells via genjutsu. Kurenai and Naruto were at the front and rear positions respectively. Like the previous night, Naruto had unsealed Azure Wing, along with another handgun from his vast collection, Spinning them in his hands.

It had been decided upon their arrival that their best strategy was a counter ambush, so subtlety was their best bet. It helped that most people didn't even know what a gun could do, and team eight was using it to their advantage.

It was around dusk when their vigil finally paid off. Faint signals from Hinata and his hell hounds alerted Naruto to a hostile presence. Not even a second later, a bug flew off the blonde's shoulder, and hovered near his face.

Without a second's delay, he tightened his grip on Azure Wing, bringing its spinning motion to an abrupt halt and raised his right hand towards the portion of shrubbery behind Shino's Kikaichu. The burst of violet energy preceded by a loud bang was all the warning their would-be assassin got before the youki bullet hit something not a second later… unfortunately, it was just enough.

"He replaced himself!"

The whole party stopped at Hinata's shout, the succubus rapidly scanning for their ambusher with her wide vision. It took her only a second to locate him, her eyes widening as she did. "DUCK!"

Kurenai and Shino responded immediately, the former pulling their client down with them. Naruto on the other hand stood firmly in place, much to his team's disbelief. When a large spinning blade came into view, they were nearly convinced the boy would be cut down.

The audible clang of metal striking metal proved them wrong as the gigantic meat cleaver bounced off of the nodachi underneath Naruto's coat, barely causing a nick on his cheek.

Much to the thrower's credit, it still continued to fly, undeterred until the sword –a zanbatou, from what Naruto saw– imbedded itself into one of the many thick trees that were found all over Nami. The fact that it also managed to make him stumble came as a pleasant surprise as well.

When the rest of the team got back to their feet they saw a man standing on the handle of the sword, looking down at Naruto with narrowed eyes; Naruto returning the look with an almost feral smirk.

He was tall, pale, and noticeably muscular, despite his lean build. His clothing was sparse, wearing only striped pants, a large belt going from shoulder to hip, elongated camouflage wrist- and legwarmers. Although the lower half of his face was covered by light grey bandages, it was still easy for many ninja on the field to recognize him.

"Momochi Zabuza of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū," said Naruto, his eyes never leaving the nuke-nin. "I have to say, that was a damn good throw."

Zabuza felt a smirk tugging at his lips upon hearing that statement. Were they in any other situation, he probably would have laughed in amusement. But pleasantries could wait for later. Right now, he had a job to do.

"I'll admit, you're pretty brave for a kid. Just for that little stunt, I'm going to give you one chance to run. I only need to kill the bridge builder, so if all of you turn back and leave now, I'm willing to turn a blind eye on you."

His voice was deep and his tone indicated amusement, yet no one was able to miss the steel in his words. The air grew thick with anticipation as Zabuza waited for an answer, standing almost nonchalantly as his eyes scanned the group for any form of movement that would require him to act.

"Heh… sorry peach boy(1), no can do," Naruto answered provocatively, drawing his own sword and exchanged his current guns for the ranged half of the Nether Reaper as he slid into a fighting stance: the large firearm held like a tonfa in front of him with his nodachi angled downwards behind him; his feet spread apart in a horse stance.

The pale man sneered as the rest of the team soon followed. "You honestly believe you can beat me?" he asked amusedly, stepping off his weapon and prying it out of the tree's grasp. "You may be better than most genin, but tell me, have you ever faced death before? Even once in your life?"

"I doubt you'd believe me if I told you," the blonde replied, the confidence evident on his visage never wavering as he stared the older man down.

"Don't get in over your head, Naruto," Kurenai reprimanded her student, never taking her eyes off the former Kiri-nin. "As reckless as it was, I'm glad you at least knew what you were doing earlier. But just because you survived one attack doesn't mean you should get overconfident."

"You should listen to your teacher, boy. It could save your life," Zabuza cut in, strapping his sword onto his back as he formed a hand sign. "Let's see if you can get out of this: Kirigakure no jutsu!"

No sooner than he had finished speaking, a thick mist suddenly rolled in, completely obscuring team eight's vision… or so the swordsman thought.

"Ten feet above ground, five o'clock!"

"Gail storm!"

The unexpected rush of tearing wind heading his way would have ended the demon of the mist there and then had he been any lesser fighter. As it was, only years of experience with surprise attacks allowed him to dodge at the last second. Worse yet, the mist he had created to cover him during the fight was completely blown away by the last attack, leaving him completely visible.

A swarm of bugs and a red eyed illusionist greeted him through the hole in the slowly dissipating fog, causing his eyes to widen even further. Then they narrowed. With experienced ease, the brown eyed man drew the severing sword from its place on his back and swung, forcing Kurenai to angle her body away from the attack and back away. The bugs weren't so easy to get rid of though, and he was fairly certain that having them on him for too long wouldn't be a very good idea.

Zabuza wasn't a fool. These were Konoha ninja, and there was only ninja of single clan used bugs, as far as the leaf village was concerned. While the complete inner workings of their bugs were unknown to people outside the village, and indeed, even most of those in it, what he did know was enough to tell him they were bad news. He had to get rid of them. Fast.

As soon as his foot touched the ground, the nuke-nin dove left, towards one of the many lakes that dotted the inner portions of Nami, throwing his sword towards the group once more before completely submerging himself. This was his element. A place where he had the advantage. With a quick application of hand signs, he moulded his chakra into the water surrounding him, thickening it as he compressed the liquid as best he could to form his attack.

On land, team eight watched in anticipation as the water remained calm. Hinata had already informed them of the former Kiri-nin's preparation for a jutsu, but none of them were foolish enough to dive into the very place Zabuza had the greatest control over.

Within seconds of the succubus' warning, the water in the lake erupted, shaping itself into a dragon as it charged towards them, striking down a majority of Shino's released Kikaichu along the way. The Konoha group was a lot more fortunate and managed to get away from ground zero of the impending water rush, their client being dragged away by Naruto.

"Agni! Rudra! Get this guy back to his house!"

The lupine demons were quick to respond, as always, with Agni catching the old man that was tossed their way (much to his panic) before running towards the direction they were heading before. Rudra followed right behind them, keeping guard for any possible assault.

Kurenai gave a nod of approval at the decision. It was a bit risky, but Tazuna was more likely to die while caught up in between a confrontation than escaping. Still… "Shino! Follow them! Make sure nothing happens to the client!"

Giving a nod of his own, the bug user departed, just as Zabuza finally resurfaced. The female members of team eight charged, both of them landing on the water.

Hinata, being closest, reached him first, aiming a palm strike at his midsection, only for it to be swatted away at the wrist and countered with a roundhouse, forcing the girl to back away, but Kurenai pressed on with the attack, brandishing a kunai in each hand. Much to the crimson eyed genjutsu mistress's frustration, he managed to dodge her first cut and blocked the second with his own knife.

The temporary deadlock allowed the pale nuke-nin to shove her away with his superior strength, just as Hinata closed in for a second strike. Unfortunately, Zabuza had already anticipated such a manoeuvre, jumping back to get out of the smaller girl's range. It was only then that the nuke-nin remembered something very important: the blonde sword user of the group, who also used some very strange ranged weapons… one of which had a spinning orb in front of it, aimed his way.

"Dodge this! Oodama Rasendan!"

The smirk on Naruto's face as he shot at the assassin widened along with his target's eyes as the ball of compressed, spinning youki doubled in size and zoomed towards Zabuza. The energy bullet landed a direct hit and slowly started to grind into its victim. Or at least it seemed to for the first few seconds.

Naruto cursed as a puff of smoke, followed by the sound of shredding wood told all that his target had survived. Quickly pocketing Azure Wing, he once more pulled out the Nether Reaper gun, holding it in his favoured tonfa position. The sound of rapidly displacing air alerted him to the hostile presence behind him.

He turned and blocked with the rifle, causing sparks to fly as metal scraped on metal. Zabuza, it seemed, had used the small distraction of his substitution to grab his sword once more and tried to decapitate him. Clenching his jaw, Naruto, much to the nuke-nin's shock, pushed the zanbatou away and tried to slice his pale skinned opponent with his own sword; an attempt that was barely dodged.

The bandaged man's success was short lived though, as a loud bang rang throughout the battle field, right before the blonde shinobi's fist came crashing into the nuke-nin's face, sending him flying a long way away.

"Gunshot Knuckle! How'd you like that no-brows!" taunted Naruto, his grin wider than ever as he watched Zabuza get up, rubbing his jaw.

Despite the pain the swordsman was no doubt feeling, a laugh of amusement still escaped from the bandaged man's lips. "Not bad kid. You sure you're not the jonin of this little crew, cause you sure are fighting a hell of a lot better than she is," he answered, his eyes shifting to point out the older of the two women behind his opponent, grinning despite himself. "Let's see how good you are with that sword of yours."

"Sure. Fine with me. I'm kinda surprised that you're just letting the old man go though."

"Heh… I can just take care of him after I'm done with all of you. It wouldn't make any difference anyway."

Naruto raised a brow in curiosity at that. "Really now?" he inquired, getting back into his fighting stance. From behind him, he could feel the subtle sensation of chakra being moulded, an act that was being hidden by a curtain of youki. _"Looks like this will end faster than I thought. Pity."_

"You people are too determined to just let me do my job, so naturally, the best way to complete it is to take all of you out of the picture," Zabuza replied, bringing his sword up to bear.

Naruto's smile widened. "You're going to have a hard time doing that while stuck in a tree."

The strange taunt caused the older man to eye him confusedly for all of a second before his eyes widened in realization. But it was too late.

"Magen: Jubaku Satsu(2)"

The command was silent, but to the trained ears of shinobi and demon alike, it was loud and clear. To an outside observer, Zabuza would have looked as though he was paralyzed in place, which wasn't far from the truth.

In the nuke-nin's eyes, the trees surrounding their battlegrounds suddenly latched onto him, pinning him unto themselves.

"It may not hold you for long," Naruto stated, giving the glaring Kiri-nin a very wide grin as he pulled out an old book from somewhere in his coat. "But this illusion should give me more than enough time to do what I need to."

His piece said, the blonde prince held out his right hand as he flipped the book open, chanting in a language unknown in the Elemental Nations as a violet cloud of energy coalesced in his open hand… only to remain unused as a trio of senbon struck the bound man's neck. For all of a second, Zabuza's eyes widened, then he went limp, his chest unmoving as his body fell.

If Naruto was surprised by the turn of events, he didn't let it show on his face, his only outward reaction consisting of arching a single brow in curiosity. With the sudden appearance of someone beside the nuke-nin's body not moments later, his gaze shifted. The mask the figure wore was from the Kiri Oinin(3), a faction of the Kirigakure ANBU designated to hunt down Nuke-nin.

"_And it was just getting good too."_ Naruto thought in disappointment, frowning lightly at the masked assassin. He didn't let his spell dissipate though. The blonde wasn't sure what it was about the scene before him, but the part of his mind that kept everything his parents told him of the ninja world was practically shouting at him that something was amiss.

"You have my gratitude, shinobi-san. I have been waiting for the right opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time," the Oinin thanked, giving the blonde a respectful bow.

"Oh… is that so?" Naruto inquired casually, still not letting his spell power down.

The masked ninja's head tilted –from curiosity, it seemed– at his continued hostility. "Yes. I promise you, there is no need for caution, Zabuza will no longer trouble you," the Oinin assured as he dropped down to the ground and picked up the unmoving body.

It was then Naruto's eyes widened in realization. Without a second thought, he released the restraints on his spell, sending out a wave of Miasma towards the duo. He could almost feel the masked ninja's eyes widen as he flinched in surprise, eliciting a smirk from the blonde.

This, however, soon turned into a frown, as the Oinin decided to take a page out of Naruto's book, swinging Zabuza on his back so as to allow his sword to intercept the blast. A flash of dark light later and the transformation spell's power disappeared completely, with neither of the targets looking even the slightest bit altered. A quick leap later and the two were gone; escaping through the woods.

Naruto grit his teeth in annoyance –"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!"– for the few seconds before his remaining teammate and his teacher screamed at him. Reluctantly, he turned around to face the two women, both of whom were sending him very irate glares. "I hope you have a good explanation for… whatever the hell it is you just tried to pull, Naruto." It was Kurenai who spoke first, clearly angered by what, to her, was an act unbefitting of his position.

"Why didn't you just kill Zabuza when you had a chance? You're a ninja Naruto, and a proper ninja must always try to finish off their opponent as soon as possible, not give them a chance to retaliate by trying something flashy," the crimson eyed genjutsu mistress chastised, her arms crossed over her chest as she scowled at her student.

"Trying to finish him off quickly wouldn't have done anything anyway. Not with that fake Oinin on his side," Naruto argued defensively, crossing his own arms and looking away.

Kurenai's frown deepened. "That doesn't change the fact that you acted in a way unbefitting of a shinobi," she berated, closing her eyes in an attempt to reign in her temper. "What's more, you also tried to hit a ninja from Kiri without any provocation, something which can very well lead to trouble."

"That wasn't a Kiri-nin," the blonde interrupted. "Sensei, think about it, that guy was dressed like an Oinin, yet he tried to move Zabuza's body."

The statement seemed to confuse Kurenai for a moment as she thought over her students words. It didn't take long, though, before what he was implying hit her. "I see. You thought the Oinin was Zabuza's ally then?" she asked, already knowing the answer. She sighed in exasperation when he nodded. "Well if that's the case, then I guess I can let you off the hook… at least this once. Keep in mind though, while I don't know how you even know about Oinin operation procedures, you should also know that nothing in the ninja world is that straightforward. The Oinin you just attacked could have very well been just operating upon specific orders concerning Zabuza's body, and while the use of senbon needles does make your theory more plausible, it doesn't make it the only possibility. Next time, don't be so brash. Understood?"

Naruto's nod at her advice was met with one of her own before the jonin turned her eyes in the directionthe rest of her team had escaped towards. "Looks like we'll have to find our own way to this village now," she thought out loud. "Hopefully, that fake Oinin was the only backup that Zabuza had."

-X-

Forest clearing- Dusk…

Haku was getting worried. Not only was she found out at the last moment, but the attack the blonde shinobi had fired at her had forced her to block with her own master's sword, even as it was still on his back. That in itself wouldn't be all that worrying, considering there didn't seem to be any adverse effects on the bandaged man. What was starting to bother her was that Zabuza _still_ hadn't woken up yet, even after she removed the senbon from his neck.

As concern grew into frustration, she panicked, throwing her mask off her face with an uncharacteristic growl. The sound of shattering porcelain rang throughout the clearing as the mask hit the bandaged man's sword, but Haku didn't care. The thought that her own actions had possibly led to the death of the man who had raised her since he found her on the cold streets of Mizu no Kuni filled her mind.

The senbon were placed perfectly, of that there was no doubt, but the attack of her teacher's blonde opponent could have just as easily killed Zabuza when it was blocked by his sword as it could have while Zabuza was unguarded. The implications of such a thing jarred her. For but a second, she felt a chilling wave pass over her as her mind came upon a horrific realization.

"_But… what else could I have done? It came too fast for me to prepare a substitution, especially since there were two of us, and dodging it outright would have been next to impossible without putting us into an even more dangerous position. It was either block it with Zabuza-sama's sword or… with me. And if that attack had killed me, then Zabuza-sama would have been killed soon after."_

Haku knew her reasoning was sound. There was simply no other way to have gotten both of them out of the situation with a marginal chance of survival. Yet even with that knowledge, she felt lost to the world. It was her mentor who had given her a purpose, a reason to live. If he was dead… _"What else is left for me?"_

The feel of warm liquid running down her cheeks was the only thing telling the pale skinned girl she had been crying, a fact that only made her weep even more. _"Dammit… even on his deathbed I still fail him like this,"_ she thought miserably, looking down at the still lifeless form of her mentor. _"The maximum time for the temporary death state has already passed by now. Zabuza-sama is… he's really dead."_

Consumed in guilt, Haku continued to weep as she stared at the body of her mentor… the man who, in an odd way, had been more of a father to her than her biological one; ironically someone else who's life was ended by her actions.

It took her hours to calm down, and only after she'd ran out of tears to shed. Haku felt empty, once more left without a purpose to live. With a face devoid of emotions, the fake Oinin finally took her eyes off of her teacher's corpse.

In the limited light of the moon, single object was highlighted before her: the gigantic cleaver that had been Zabuza's favoured weapon for as long as she had known him. Slowly, the girl rose from her crouch, walking almost zombie-like towards the blade. "It was my fault that Zabuza-sama died," Haku told herself, her voice quiet and listless, "it should only be fair that my life is taken by his sword."

Her decision made, Haku reached out towards the Zanbatou's handle, not a single sign of hesitation present in her action. She would die here, she would follow her master to death With a steady hand, she grabbed onto the handle… and promptly blacked out.

-X-

Zabuza woke to the sound of something shattering near him. He felt odd, as though he were dizzy and yet, at the same time, not, and for some reason he couldn't understand, it also felt as though something was holding him in place. He tried to open his eyes, but found himself unable to. In fact, despite all the strange sensations he was experiencing, he couldn't feel a single part of his body at all.

But that wouldn't stop him from trying. Concentrating, he focused his will, trying to break out of the genjutsu he was likely in. However, try as he might, the nuke-nin simply couldn't control his chakra in the way he needed it to. In fact, he couldn't feel any of his chakra at all. There was certainly some form of energy flowing through his body, but it was… darker… stronger… and above all else, it felt dangerous; almost as though it was trying to burn him. Yet at the same time, it made him feel more powerful; something that, to him, seemed familiar, even though he was sure he'd never felt such a thing before in his life.

Giving up on his initial decision, Zabuza tried to mould the other energy instead. He was successful, but even after he tried to burst it out in the same way he had chakra whenever the need to break a genjutsu came up, there were still no results.

Growing irritated, he bandaged man simply decided to will his way out. To will his vision to return. Much to his surprise, it worked… or perhaps whoever had put the genjutsu over him was simply screwing with his head, because what he saw in front of him sure as hell couldn't have been the real thing.

There was his apprentice, Haku, in one of the clearings of the forest in Nami, kneeling over a fallen body, shivering; frantically checking it for vital signs with a level of desperation on her face he'd never before seen in his life. What was even more shocking was that the aforementioned body just so happened to be his.

With morbid fascination, he watched as the scene before him continued, partly confused, partly amused, and just the tiniest bit insulted. Zabuza wasn't quite sure what his apparent mental tormentors were thinking, but if this was the best they could do, then they were failing badly with just how unreal it was. Sure, if he was some inexperienced genin in over his head, seeing what was apparently his own death _would_ have made him afraid, but to use it on a seasoned former ANBU was just… sad.

Not in the same way the illusory Haku was, of course, but still pretty damn sad… and then it struck him. The Haku in front of him was unmasked and crying about his apparent death… and didn't seem the least bit angry at anyone but herself. In fact, the face she made was the same she used whenever she felt angry at herself; particularly during the times that Haku felt as though she failed him. No one could have known that look.

Suddenly, Zabuza was alarmed. The expression on his apprentice's face was far too perfect for the situation for it to be a mere genjutsu. For once in a long time, the nuke-nin felt a pang of fear rush through him. He tried shifting his gaze, to look at his body, yet no matter where he looked, he couldn't see any sign of it other than the one lying on the ground.

"_Did I… did I actually… die… then?"_

They were supposed to be thoughts. Something that he could only hear in his head. But right then, it had resonated through the air like so many other words he'd spoken in his life. Though only to his ears alone, if Haku's lack of reaction was anything to go by.

As tears started falling down Haku's features, Zabuza felt a pang of guilt hit him. He didn't know why. Guilt was an emotion he'd buried long ago, back when he first slaughtered an entire class from his own village's ninja academy. An emotion he buried after it had driven him into a state of insanity and bloodlust upon the accident that had taken his family's life. His accident. But right now, looking at the girl he'd raised to be his perfect weapon, the emotion returned.

Zabuza didn't know why, but somehow, he knew she was feeling the same thing he did all those years ago. And worse yet: she was crying.

Not once since he'd known Haku had she ever cried. No sign of the slightest sparkle of a tear, not even during her first kill, or any of her other kills, as far and few in between as they were. Yet, as his body laid there, dead, she wept for him, and he could do nothing but stare.

As the sun slowly completed its descent, and the moon took its place, Zabuza had become sure, more than any other time during this entire ordeal, that he was, in fact, dead, and that Kami was punishing him for all his crimes by making him feel guilty through the scene before him. A moment to regret before he was taken into eternal torment… then Haku stood up and, much to his disbelief walked towards where he stood, looking straight at him.

He felt hope for a moment, that it might be possible for him to say something to the kunoichi he'd mentored for a majority of her life. That hope died with her next words.

"It was my fault that Zabuza-sama died, it should only be fair that my life is taken by his sword."

Her words were cold. Not like the cold of one who was willing to kill without mercy, but like that of one who had lost all there was in life. No ice the girl could create would ever compare to the chill behind her words.

When she reached out towards him, Zabuza was well and truly confused just as much as he was worried and guilty, shouting out with nothing but his thoughts for her not to go through with what she was planning, while at the same time wondering about her actions… then she touched him, and his world spiralled. His vision twisted and turned around him, and for a moment, all was black.

When his vision returned, so did the sensation of having actual limbs. An actual body… one that was very different, at that. For one thing, he was shorter, the hand that he could feel was his was much paler, and clutching Kubikiribōchō(4), and the arm it was on was covered in the same garments as Haku's own arm. If that wasn't enough of an indication as to what was going on, then the added weight in his chest area sure as hell was.

With a decidedly very feminine screech, found himself jumping back, away from his sword… and once more, his world spiralled, bringing him back to staring at a very confused Haku.

-X-

Tazuna's House- Near midnight…

Naruto sat atop the roof of his (team's) client's house, reading a large book by light of the moon, his eyes focusing on a particular piece of text.

The sound of air being displaced by very large wings, and the subsequent tap of a boot landing on the hard wood of the roof alerted him to the presence of his female vassal. Even then, though, the blonde's eyes never left his book.

"That had better not be that spell book again. You already risked a lot with that thing earlier, the last thing we need is for you to do something stupid with it."

Naruto snorted amusedly at the succubus's comment. "Is that any way to speak to you master?" he interrogated jokingly, looking over his shoulder at the blue-haired girl, a smirk evident on his features.

For the first time since their trip, Hinata had allowed the illusion hiding her horns to dissipate and her wings to unfold, leaving her half closed beige vest to cover all that lay underneath. "No, but then again whoever said I had to play nice? You _did_ turn me into _demon_ after all," Hinata shot back good-naturedly with a smirk of her own, as she made her way towards the blonde.

"Touché."

Folding her wings straight back, Hinata sat down by the roof's edge right beside Naruto, gazing up at the stars as she did so. "Fun and games aside, I really am serious about what I said. You may have been able to handle a demon Zabuza, but who's to say he wouldn't have gotten to me or Kurenai-sensei first? I mean, what were you thinking, trying to use that… curse, on your opponent?"

For the first few seconds, it looked as though the demon prince was actually contemplating the question, letting out a thoughtful 'hmm'. The shrug afterwards ruined that image. "I'll be honest with you here, I only really did that because the fight was getting too boring and I wanted a better challenge," he confessed, his expression sheepish. "Besides, there's _no_ way I'd let you get hurt. Not if I could help it."

Unknown to the blonde who only continued his perusing, Hinata's face flushed a bright shade of red upon hearing his statement, her eyes darting over to give him a sidewards glance. "You… really mean that?"

"Well yeah," Naruto replied with a cheery tone. "Remember, one of my goals is to show Konoha ninja just how much of an advantage they'd have if they embraced their potential as demons. Even early on in this phase, I have to show them that you have potential, the Hyuga clan in particular. If you, or, really, anyone on our team were to get majorly injured, then I wouldn't be able to make as good of an impression. Therefore, I have to make sure not to let you get hurt too much when we fight someone out of your league."

The blush on Hinata's cheeks had left her rather quickly, half way into Naruto's answer, her body now shaking in annoyance. Gritting her teeth, the blue haired girl did her best to school her emotions. "Is that so? Well, I'm glad I mean so much to you, Naruto-_sama_," she replied, her heavily sarcastic tone carrying over just a bit of her left over agitation… which was entirely missed by the blonde prince, who was once more absorbed into his reading material. _"Idiotic moron."_

With a heavy sigh and a shake of her head, the succubus stowed away all thoughts of hostility, deciding to save it for when she could actually act upon it. "Oh well, at least the curse didn't hit Zabuza, so we can probably rest easy," she thought aloud, looking on the brighter side of things.

"Actually, it did hit him. An immediate transformation into a demon. A rather rare one at that."

"What?" Hinata asked, eyes wide in a mix of surprise and disbelief. She should've known better. Naruto was, for all intents and purposes, insane. Perhaps not in the conventional way, but insane nonetheless. Of course what he did worked, and of course he was proud that he now made their opponent more dangerous. That was just how he was like.

"I said, Zabuza _was_ turned into a demon, the presence of foreign youki when I hit him earlier is proof of that… and since you didn't notice, I'm definitely going to have to train you to tell the difference between chakra and youki at a glance. What's more, since his body made no outward changes, then he must've turned into an Alastor, which will definitely make fighting him a lot more interesting," Naruto supplied giddily.

Hinata, for her part, just stared at him blankly. "Okay… three questions: one, what the hell is an Alastor? Two, why would it make the fight 'more interesting'? And three, is there anything else you want to tell me that will make me want to do nothing more than kill you right now?"

For a moment, Naruto looked towards the winged girl with a puzzled expression. Then he shrugged again. "Well, to answer your questions: An Alastor is a type of demonic spirit that binds itself to a weapon, and can take possession of anybody who holds the weapon they are bound to as long as the 'host' is weaker than them. This ties in with how it will make the fight more interesting. Since Zabuza is now an Alastor, and bound to his sword, I can essentially fight him until he runs out of bodies to possess… oh and don't worry, I won't let him possess the client, or anyone on the team. As for the third question… well, I'm not all that sure. But while we're on the topic of killing, I should probably warn you, killing Zabuza permanently just got _a lot_ harder."

"And… why… is that?" Hinata followed up, her left eye twitching.

"Because the only general method to kill an Alastor is to destroy the weapon they inhabit to the point where it can no longer be repaired. As it is, I'm the only one on this team that could probably have a chance at doing that, which means he's all mine. Haahahahahaha!"

As Naruto laughed like the true blood knight that he was, he was completely oblivious to the fact that Hinata was a hair trigger away from trying to kill him.

-X-

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end. Yes, Haku is, in fact, a girl, and yes, Hinata is very much OOC _and_ a tsundere, and if you're not down with that! I GOT TWO WORDS FOR… eh… whoops, kinda got carried away there. Sorry.

Anyway, moving on, here's the chapterly explanations.

(1) The 'Momochi' in Zabuza's name means 'peach soil'.

(2) Magen: Jubaku Satsu- Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death. A genjutsu where the target is immobilized by a phantasmal tree. One of Konoha's signature genjutsu, and probably Kurenai's most well known technique.

(3) Oinin- Tracker Ninja. Check Wiki for details if you want.

(4) Kubikiribōchō- Decapitating Carving Knife. The name of Zabuza's sword, for the few that don't know.

And… DONE!


	10. Chapter 10

Alright, first of, sorry for the delay. I know that lines getting really old and all, but I have got other things that needed to be done. Plus, school just started up again. Hopefully, none of you are that angry.

Second, I'm also sorry for the very short chapter, but a lack of inspiration made it hard for me to make an interlude before the bridge battle.

Third, and this is for my beta-reader, sorry for publishing this chapter without having it go through you first, but I really didn't want to keep everyone else waiting.

I still don't own Disgaea or Naruto by the way.

**Chapter X: Cold Front**

Naruto- That's it! I'm sick of this! You guys can't honestly expect me to write poetic shit every chapter do you? I'm a fighter dammit, not a poet!

Kasumi- Prince… maybe you should calm down. I'm fine with getting angry at people and all, but you might just drive some of the readers away.

Naruto- Fuck like I care! I'm sick of this shit! The only time I ever managed to get a brake was in chapter six, and even then that was _after_ Hinata joined us and gave her own line.

Charlotte- Well, look at it this way, at least the author took the fall for you last time.

Hinata- Readers? Chapter? Author? Why are you guys talking like we're in some sort of book or something?

Naruto/Kasumi/Charlotte- StaresatHinataconfusedly. Huh?

Charlotte- Struckwithrealization. Oh! Right, I forgot, you were only integrated into the Nippon Ichi world recently. Well, see, here's the thing: right now, we basically _are_in a story, a 'fan fiction' to be precise. Since the three of us were either created in the parameters of the Nippon Ichi world, or have been integrated into it for most of our in-story lives, we've gained the ability to break the 'fourth wall'.

Hinata- … and that would be… what exactly?

Kasumi- It's the metaphorical dimensional wall that separates us from those of the outer dimensions.

Naruto- Don't worry if you're still confused. Everyone gets used to it eventually. Just try to do so before you become insane.

Hinata- WHAT!

Sagitarius- That's it! You four have taken up nearly an entire page with this. Get back to the story. I still have plot twists I need to use to screw you guys over with and I won't b able to use them unless the story starts!

Hinata- Shocked.ActivatesherByakugan,onlytofindnoonearound.Who the hell was that!

Naruto/Kasumi/Charlotte- The author.

Sagitarius- I said get back to the story!

-X-

"Why do you even keep trying! You're all going to end up getting killed anyway!"

Naruto grumbled in annoyance as he set his spoon back on his half filled plate, a hand quickly coming up to rub his temple. Stormy blue eyes narrowed towards the cause of his frustration. Team eight had just gotten back from their morning training –which mostly consisted of developing their own personal skills– to be greeted by a newly set table for lunch. All in all, Naruto found their first day in Nami –not counting their tense arrival– starting off great… and then Tazuna's grandson, Inari came in.

It was frustrating really. The little kid was glaring at him and his team ever since he saw them. Sure, Naruto was used to receiving glares all the time, but that was only when people outright hated him, or wanted him to die, or kill him… or the person was someone he annoyed… or fought… or was suspicious of him. Okay, so there were a lot of reasons, but none of them ever looked down on him… well, most of the Konoha civilian council and some members of the dark assembly did, but then again, he hated the former and most of the latter were the leaders of their respective groups, who were also close to the generals' level of strength. This kid didn't even look like he'd ever been in a serious fight in his life, and he looked at him like he was a prinny that loved to jump off of cliffs!

"You know kid, you're _really_ starting to annoy me," said the blonde, before his face took on a confident smirk. "Besides, there's no way some Hoggmeiser wannabe is gonna beat me, so just do all of us a favor and stop being so broody all the time. It's annoying."

Most of those seated at the table had stopped eating then, watching the exchange worriedly. The only exception were Shino and Kurenai, the latter only sparring a moment to give him a warning glance not to start anything.

Inari glared harder at Naruto. "Oh! And I suppose you think you're some kind of superhero then!" the brunette challenged, trying to anger the older boy. Much to his surprise though, the only reaction he received was an incredulous stare, followed by Naruto suddenly falling off his chair, laughing like a mad man.

"A… a… a super… hero!" the blonde shouted in between breaths, trying his best to control himself… and failing very miserably. "Hahaha!… that's –hahahahaha– that's a good one… hahaha. Seriously hahahahaha! As if… hahaha… as if someone like me would _ever_ act like those justice spewing selfless space stooges!" he howled out, finally managing to get to the point where he could stay till on all four of his limbs.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!"

The sudden outburst knocked Naruto out of his fit, but the smile on his face had yet to leave. As the blonde returned to his feet, his gaze shifted back towards the young brunette. "Listen kid," he started, his tone taking on what could only be described as mocking reassurance, "I don't really know what the hell made you act like this, and honestly, I don't really care. But if I were you, I'd stop the whole 'there's no hope' whining for someone that actually cares. If this Gato guy is as strong as you claim, then why isn't he in here, right now, trying to kill us with his bare hands?"

The silence that followed only made Naruto's smirk widen. "See? You can't answer that. That just shows that even _you_ don't believe he's that strong," he told Inari, even as the younger boy tried his best to avert eye contact. Naruto chuckled. "Still gonna be like that huh? Heh… whatever. This place is a little too depressing for me right now," continued the prince, not even bothering to wait for an answer. "I'll be out on one of the fields. Just ask Agni or Rudra to track me down if you need me."

Before any objections could be made, he was already long gone, leaving the room completely silent…

"What the hell was with that flowery speech?"

Until Hinata finally broke it, shrugging at her own question before returning to her meal. Neither Kurenai nor Shino showed it, but both were rather surprised by her newfound callousness.

-X-

Sometimes, Naruto couldn't even believe his own luck. Just when he needed an excuse to leave on his own, it suddenly came up in what was possibly the strangest circumstances. Granted, it _was_ a lame excuse _and_ he would have left even if he didn't have one, but it did help. He allowed a satisfying smirk to encroach on his face, as his hand reached up to the shoulder of his coat. With an unnecessary flourish truly befitting a prince of the netherworld, he threw the piece of garment off his frame; the two small wings on his back expanding to their true size.

Not a moment later, he took off, flying headfirst into the thick forest at breakneck speed, twisting and turning to avoid being hit. This was something Naruto had been missing since he started living in Konoha. There were precious few things Naruto enjoyed which he could do alone, and among them, flying around as fast as he naturally could was his favorite. His step-grandmother once said that it probably had to do with the fact being free was something he yearned for while an orphan, and only received when he took to the air, but he didn't really care either way. He loved flying, and now was the first time in a long time that he could go about it the way he loved to.

The blonde was already far enough from the village to make sure that nobody would disturb him, and he was going to milk it for all it was worth. Sure, he managed to get some flying in while he was teaching Hinata, but that was in the item world, and there were never any good obstacles to fly around then. Plus, teaching someone how to fly, and actually flying on your own were two entirely different things.

Naruto's grin grew wider and wider as he weaved around the various flora that filled the landscape, performing every possible trick he could think of: from something as basic as a loop-de-loop to a diving corkscrew. The blonde always enjoyed flying best while in a forest. Not only was it challenging, it was good training as well.

"_Now,__if__only__I__had__something__to__hunt."_ He mused to himself as he neared another clearing. A clearing that just so happen to have a girl picking flowers in it. Naruto's smile turned into a frown almost instantly. He kicked his legs to the front and pushed back his shoulders, getting himself into an upright position, slowing him down in the process. He landed without so much as a sound; a skill he'd picked up from years of sneaking up on hostile demons. _"Hmm__… __what__to__do__in__this__situation?"_ he contemplated, _"It__would__be__easy__to__just__knock__her__out__with__a__shot__from__my__BB__gun__… __but__then__someone__might__look__for__her__later,__and__if__they__raise__an__alert,__then__I__won't__have__anywhere__else__to__fly.__I__could__just__fly__around__the__place__too,__but__then,__there__might__be__others__like__her__around."_

It would have made sense. If one girl went out this far to pick flowers, then others might have come too… except, she _wasn't_ picking flowers. Naruto's eyes widened for a second, only to narrow moments later as he stared at the plants the girl was around. At first, he thought it was just a mistake, that he had possibly missed something. But no, there wasn't a single flower near the girl, only herbs.

Under normal circumstances, he would've dismissed the fact as irrelevant. After all, with the level of poverty that Nami no Kuni was suffering, it would only make sense that some people would rather search for their own medicine, rather than attempt to buy it at their insane price levels. Yet he didn't. Upon closer inspection, he felt a sense of familiarity with her.

Narrowing his eyes, the blonde focused on the girl in front of him, trying to get a glimpse of her spirit. The ability to see into the realm of spirits, if only partially, was quite possibly one of the most useful abilities that demons are born with. It allowed them to gauge the power levels of those around them, with some of the older demons even being able to identify others with a single glance alone. It was also what allowed them to use Geo panels, symbols, and cubes so effectively.

It was thanks to these senses that he was able to discern what had happened to Zabuza the night before, and it was what gave him the identity of the person in front of him. Naruto could only smirk at the opportunity he'd received, but suppressed it soon enough, willing his wings to shrink and his tail to coil around his waist. No use scaring the girl right off the bat after all.

"If you're out here to pick flowers, then you're doing a pretty bad job at it." Inwardly, Naruto smirked, both at the girl's suppressed shock, as well as his use of his previous mistake. When the girl turned around to look who had managed to sneak up on her, her eyes instantly widened as they gazed at him, a bright pink flush spreading very noticeably on her pale skin.

"_Looks__like__she's__angry__at__herself__for__being__caught,"_ the blonde mentally concluded.

Haku quickly turned her gaze back towards the herbs before her, trying to calm her breath. As if being snuck up on wasn't bad enough, but to find out the person who snuck up on you had –if only technically– beaten your mentor was a little too much for the young woman's usual aversion to surprises. The fact that his black scarf did nothing to hide his rather impressive figure didn't help either.

The ice user quickly shook her head of such thoughts, reminding herself of exactly what it was he had done to her teacher. "I'm not here looking for flowers, I'm looking for herbs," she corrected, talking as politely as she possibly could.

"Oh? For who?"

"My teacher," Haku replied honestly , "he was injured very recently," she added, and for a while, only silence followed. The ice user was nearly convinced that the young sword user had already left, probably as silently as he'd approached; a fact she was very relieved about… until he spoke again.

"Really now? So he didn't just decide to take over a new body huh? Definitely didn't expect that."

Haku's body became stiff as a board almost instantly at his statement. Then, without the slightest hint, she spun around, pulling out a handful of senbon from her basket; primed to be thrown at the blonde's pressure points. Unfortunately, they never got any further than half swing as her throwing hand was caught by her intended target's… tail?

Despite herself, Haku blinked confusedly, running her gaze over the long black appendage that was binding her arm, barely believing her own eyes. There were many a strange sights one could find in the elemental nations. She still remembered Zabuza telling her about one of his former teammates, who looked as though he was the product of bestiality between a human and a shark. That didn't mean the tail and wings that were clearly part of the blonde's body were expected though.

Naruto, for his part, could only smirk. "I wouldn't try that again if I were you," he warned, his tail uncoiling off of the pale girls limb before pushing it back to her side. "That was pretty stupid of you, you know?" he asked rhetorically, eliciting a silent growl from the ice user. Naruto chose to ignore it.

"So, any reason why peach boy's so adamant about staying in that old body of his?" he asked instead, crossing his arms over his chest. A few moments of silence caused one of his eyebrows to raise in curiosity, right before his eyes widened. One quick tail whip behind him had a smirk growing on his face, as the sound of shattering ice soon followed. "Using the remaining morning dew to from an ice weapon," he began, an analytical eye darting towards the arm that held her herb basket, "all done with single-handed hand signs, while hiding their movement with the plants you collected." He suddenly couldn't keep his smirk from growing wider, "You're quite the prodigy aren't you?"

Haku only continued to glare at him defiantly, frustrated that her attempt at killing him had failed. "What did you do to Zabuza-sama!" she demanded vehemently, completely abandoning her earlier façade.

"I turned him into a real demon," Naruto answered bluntly. So much so, in fact, that it actually caused Haku's thought process to stumble.

The blonde in front of her was a ninja. Certainly, getting an answer would have been harder than that, even if she _did_ know most of the facts already. That couldn't just be it right?

The ice user quickly shook her head, trying to get it back on track. "Why?" she followed up, her voice quieter, but just as fierce as before. "What could you possibly gain from doing that?" Haku continued, taking a small step back as she tried to hide one of her hands from his sight. It was a futile effort to try and attack him, she had no delusions about that. The wings and tail were big enough hints about his nature, and his statement all but confirmed that he wasn't human. That didn't mean she couldn't try though.

"I thought it would make our next fight more interesting."

Unfortunately, her focus was once again broken by the winged shinobi's response. The ice user expected many things in reply: a sudden attack, some kind of condescending speech, hell, she even accepted the small chance that he'd explain his plans to her in some obscure manner like they do in mangas, but this… _"He__can't__be__serious,"_ Haku thought to herself in disbelief. Never once had she ever heard of a ninja so… free, with information. Even amongst allies there were always certain secrets kept between each person, the only exception being those who were either too naïve to understand the importance of such an act, or if two people were exceedingly close. Yet here in front of her was the person responsible for her master's current condition, answering all her questions without so much as the slightest bit of hesitation.

Faced with such odd circumstances, there was really only one conclusion Haku's addled mind could come up with: "You're lying!" she accused vehemently, refusing to believe Naruto's reasoning. "That can't just be it! What are you planning!"

Naruto gave the ice user an annoyed look. "I _already_ told you everything there is to it," he deadpanned. "I'll admit, Zabuza's good, but in the end, he's still just human in a backwater world. He may have more in the way of technique, but he still wouldn't be able to match up against some of the humans from more advanced or esoteric worlds," continued the blonde, not once taking notice of the very confused look on Haku's features. "He isn't even kage level either. In the end, the only way he could possibly put up an interesting fight is if he's a demon."

Haku's eyes narrowed once more, clearing herself of whatever confusion the blonde's explanation had caused. "So that's it? You just turned him into a demon for your own amusement?" despite herself, the ice user let out an audible growl at the shrug she received in reply. "Turn him back!" she demanded angrily, throwing caution to the wind as she lunged at the demon in front of her.

What happened next was only to be expected. One moment she was charging, attempting to stab him with an ice kunai, and the next moment she found herself held in the air by Naruto's tail wrapping around her neck, choking her lightly. Desperately, she plunged her makeshift weapon into the spike tipped appendage, receiving a satisfying hiss for her actions. But Naruto held on.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves, you know," he told her, his irritation as clear as crystal in his voice. "I wouldn't have had to do this if you had just stayed calm, but I guess if I want my message to go through to your teacher, I'm going to have to resort to excessive force… not that I mind, of course."

Bringing a hand to his back, Naruto quickly pulled out a familiar book. From where, Haku didn't know, but it made her eyes widen all the same. "Whether he wants to use his original body or not, I don't really care. Just make sure to tell him that the next time we fight, I'm expecting more of a challenge, because this time, I aim to kill." His piece said, the blonde flipped through his spell book until he reached the page he was looking for.

Keeping the distance between him and Haku as far as possible, Naruto began chanting, a spell circle appearing in front of his hand. "Lux Hypnotica!(1)" at his command, a beam of light shot out towards his captured target. He felt the girl stiffen in his grip, before slowly relaxing as she was forced into slumber.

Naruto dropped the girl's body to the ground as soon as the spell took full effect; just gentle enough to not wake her up before retracting his tail. "I really should stop doing stuff like this with my aura suppressed this much," he mumbled to himself, staring at the small wound the ice user had inflicted. Sighing, Naruto made to turn around and continue his flight… only to stop short as he felt decidedly sleepy all of a sudden.

As he dropped to his knees, the blonde couldn't help but chide himself. _"I've__really__got__to__get__better__at__using__spells."_ As if to mock him, the spell took full effect there and then, causing the blonde to fall face first onto the ground, right beside Haku; one of his hands conveniently landing on the ice user's chest.

It wasn't until later, when Hinata angrily kicked Naruto in the gut with a huge flush on her face while calling him a pervert did he wake up. Fortunately Haku still continued to sleep for some time after that.

-X-

At the same time: Zabuza's Hideout…

A bed-ridden Zabuza eyed his long-used sword with narrowed eyes, a curious expression on his face. It had taken precious little time to figure out the basics of his new 'body'. There were so far four things that he and his apprentice had figured out:

First, his consciousness _was_ in fact, trapped in Kubikiribōchō, and would only return to his original body when in contact with the sword.

Second, he could actually choose _not_ to possess someone holding onto him, and could also choose between different bodies when in contact with more than one.

Third, the host body did not necessarily need to be human, alive. Of course, too badly damaged bodies aren't exactly very useful –or easy– to possess. Neither are chickens for that matter.

Fourth, and most important of all: while it was his consciousness, anybody he possessed was still limited by their original strength and chakra capacity.

The fourth reason also happened to be why Haku as currently away. Despite the young kunoichi's suggestion of simply possessing someone else, Zabuza still found it a smarter course of action to use his old body until their current job was finished, if only because it was the one he knew best how to use.

An amused smile spread over the nukenin's uncovered face at the sheer irony behind his own thoughts. _"I__never__thought__that__whole__'the__sword__chooses__the__wielder'__crap__would__actually__come__true.__Somebody__up__there__must__be__laughing__at__me_ _right__now."_

It really surprised Zabuza, at just how easy he was taking to the sudden turn of events. Normally, he was a man that was always careful about everything; never taking any good event for what it looked to be. Now, though, it seemed as if he'd let his guard… down, wouldn't be the right word; there were still many things he was cautious about. Lowered, would be a better term.

He also found himself caring about his apprentice more than he ever did. Thinking about her the same way he wished his parent's had thought about him when he was a child.

Where it all came from, he honestly couldn't figure out, but the concept of both had comforted him and sent a chill down his spine –or whatever equivalent a sword had– all at once.

"Well, well, well. I thought I felt another demon near here."

The sudden intrusion of an unfamiliar voice cut Zabuza off from his musings. A kunai was in his free hand not a second later, and was flying towards the source before he could even turn his eyes towards it. Once he did though, it was to his surprise and disappointment that, rather than finding a soon to be dead body, he was greeted with the sight the projectile being batted away with, of all things, a scepter.

"That wasn't very nice," the scepter's wielder, a little girl, said matter-of-factly, sitting on one of the windows at the far end of the room.

Actually, the word 'little' was probably an understatement. She looked like she was at least a head shorter than Haku who was already pretty short for her age. And if that wasn't strange enough, the rest of her appearance certainly was. The black horns on her head, accentuated by a well-kept mane of white hair, received greater notice. The simple ensemble of a white button-up shirt, black blazer, and matching pleated skirt would have had him categorizing her as a simple –if odd– civilian, were it not for the fact that she'd just deflected a kunai he'd thrown at high-speed without so much as a hint of effort.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" demanded Zabuza, completely ignoring her prior statement. It came as a bit of a surprise for him when she actually seemed to look embarrassed by it.

"Ah, of course! I shouldn't just barge into people's huts like that, should I?" she said in reply, more to herself rather than to the bed-ridden swordsman. Said swordsman sweatdropped despite himself at the girl's reaction.

"Sorry about that. I guess I should've asked if I could come in first huh?" she apologized, earning another sweatdrop from the room's occupant. "I'll make sure to remember that next time. That little matter aside, I must say, I never expected to see an Alastor of all things in this world."

A non-existent eyebrow rose on Zabuza's forehead at that statement. "Alas-what? What on earth are you babbling on about?" he asked irritably, glaring at the horned girl. "You still haven't answered my previous question either. I'll repeat this only one more time: Who are you, and why did you come here?"

For a while, the white haired girl only looked at him incredulously, then curiously. Finally a look of realization crossed her face, right before a very triumphant smile spread across it. "To answer your most recent question: I'm talking about what kind of demon you are, which you obviously have no knowledge of. As for who I am and why I'm here," she paused, and Zabuza swore that her smile had just gotten wider. "My name is Garnette, and well… I guess you could say I was sidetracked while searching for my rival."

The nukenin once more raised a wary brow at the smirking girl –Garnette if she was telling the truth– as she continued to sit on her window perch. Her rather casual declaration of him apparently being a demon was worrisome. More so from the fact that she apparently knew what he really was now, whereas he himself did not.

Before he could say anything though, Garnette had already beat him to it. "Say. I know this is sudden but… I have a proposition for you…"

-X-

And that's the end of that chapter. All questions needed to be asked must be put into the form of a review, preferably with a long line of text expressing both praise and criticism (constructive only) so that I may learn what it is in this chapter that I did right, and what I did wrong. I shall answer everything as best as I can.

(1) Lux Hypnotica- Sleep inducing light. Ripped off directly from the Negima list of spells. More specifically, Nebula Hypnotica.

See you all next time!


	11. Chapter 11

To all you readers, I'm hurt. The last chapter didn't even reach my usual ten reviews goal. Seriously guys, show some love. Even tough love. Unless all you have to say are things that'll probably make me angry –in other words, baseless criticism and bashing of whatever choices I make– then at least say it. I'd at least like to get ten reviews per chapter.

…

…

…

Okay, that's enough feeling sorry about myself. Let's just get on with this chapter. Oh, and I still don't own shit.

**Chapter XI: The red mist clears**

As the curtains split open, a spotlight shined down on Charlotte, who smiled at the audience. "A big hello to all our faithful readers! And to those who aren't, you'd better become our faithful readers after this. Otherwise, I'll incinerate you with Peta Fire… slowly."

"*Ahem* Introductions aside, I'm sure all of you recall the prince's little rant from the previous chapter. To avoid such things in the future, the author has decided to use this space to explain certain points in the story as well as talk about certain characters. That said, a change in style in this part of the chapters was also needed."

"Oh, and of course, as you all should've guessed by now, I will be the host of this segment: Charlotte Niula."

"Anyway, moving on. Today, we're going to talk about how one of the most important element in the Disgaea game series was adapted into this story."

"Recall the moment last chapter where Naruto looked into Haku's spirit. No actually, scratch that, here's the quote for you-

'The ability to see into the realm of spirits, if only partially, was quite possibly one of the most useful abilities that demons are born with. It allowed them to gauge the power levels of those around them, with some of the older demons even being able to identify others with a single glance alone. It was also what allowed them to use Geo panels, symbols, and cubes so effectively.'

- Quite long, but necessary nonetheless. This line is basically the adaptation of how you –the player– can see the status of characters in the Disgaea universe. As obviously, there are no such things in the story realm, this ability was adapted into 'spirit viewing'."

"As an addendum, it should also be noted that this ability is not exclusive to demons. Rather, it is just part of their instinct. With proper knowledge or adequate technology, humans and even animals could learn to do the same thing. Of course, Naruto-sama being the demon that he is, simply refuses to tell anyone in Konoha about this ability unless they ask first. He ordered us to do the same, so don't expect this ability to pop up amongst the ninja until someone notices it or it's brought up by other characters."

"That will be the end of today's segment. Join me next time where I'll talk about more story elements, characters, and give out all sorts of red herrings and foreshadowing."

Giving the audience a curtsy, the curtains close just as the spotlight shining down on Charlotte fades to black.

-X-

Inari stared fearfully at the weapon clutched in his hand. "Well?" Naruto questioned impatiently, staring at the child even as the barrel of one of his own guns was pointed at his forehead. "I gave you a weapon already didn't I? You're a kid, but if you have a strong weapon with you, even a demon can be felled. If Gato can kill me without one, then with this you should be able to as well, right?" he asked, the frown on his face deepening as Inari began to shake. "Right!"

The sudden shout was too much. With a cry, Inari threw the foreign weapon aside to slide across the floor. There were tears in his eyes as he met Naruto's gaze with a defiant –though ineffectively so– glare. "Those aren't the same things!" the younger boy shot back, "Gato has his mercenaries! His money! He controls the entire island! Just because I have a weapon doesn't mean I can beat him!"

"No, it means you can kill him," the blonde countered, cutting off whatever else Inari was about to say. "Yes, Gato has his mercenaries on his side. But out of all them, only two are ninja, and we're more than capable of taking them down. All the others won't even take much effort. His money? What's that going to matter when he doesn't have a head? His control over the island? Only because your entire village is too afraid to oppose him."

Standing up to his full height, the blonde began to walk out of the house, where the rest of his team was waiting. "Remember this kid, just because someone is stronger doesn't mean they're immortal. There's nothing special about Gato or any of his men that makes it impossible to kill them. All you need to know is how. And if you still don't believe that after today, then you can just go and shoot yourself to save his mercenaries the trouble."

His last piece said Naruto closed the door behind him. It frustrated him really, that anyone could be so… pathetic. To bow down to someone who had no power of their own without so much as putting up a fight. It might have just been his upbringing, being raised by demons and all, that he thought that way, but it just didn't sit well with him.

Granted, it really didn't matter whether or not his little argument had accomplished anything. If Kurenai was right, then Zabuza would've recovered by now, and seeing as only a quarter of the bridge remained to be built, it was very likely he'd attack soon.

"_And with Zabuza out of the way, Gato is pretty much dead already."_

-X-

"Well… at least now we're sure that Zabuza's back," Hinata quipped as the ninja and their client stared at the bodies scattered across the bridge, her flippant tone belied by her active Byakugan. "They don't seem to have any fatal injuries, so it's safe to say they're all alive. Still, if that's the case…"

Before the succubus could even state her conclusion, a thick and familiar mist began to creep over the bridge, growing denser by the second. "Everyone, on your guard!" Kurenai commanded, forming a box around Tazuna with her students, as Agni and Rudra took to the side.

Hinata began to focus on her surroundings, hoping to catch Zabuza before he could act. Two figures stood on the surface of the water at the end of the bridge: one an androgynous masked ninja, the other a tall man wielding a gigantic cleaver.

Before the succubus could even inform her team of his whereabouts, the water around the pair erupted; two dozen figures shooting out of the waterspouts to land on the immediately going on the offensive . "Water clones," Naruto muttered under his breath, though it was easily heard by his team. "Hinata, which one's the real one?" he asked, drawing his sword to block a swipe from a clone before kicking it away.

"None of them. The real one's at the front of the bridge," came Hinata's curt reply as she dodged a downward swing from another clone, countering with a double palm strike. A wall of bugs rose up beside her and forced a second sword to pass above her head, shaving off a thin layer off her hidden horns, but otherwise keeping her safe. She did note that Shino's expression changed just a bit when it happened though, but decided to put it aside for now.

The Aburame scion apparently had the same idea as he continued to command his bugs to go on the offensive. Being water clones his Kikaichu couldn't attack them directly, for fear of them being drowned once the clones decomposed, so he opted drive them en masse instead; the condensed swarms acting like solid bodies and knocking the water clones aside.

Kurenai would have been impressed had she not been fending off clones herself. As it is, she was just glad they were only outnumbered four to one by opponents with a tenth of Zabuza's strength. It was pressing, but anymore would've probably been too much.

-X-

"_Mom… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry. I'm a weak kid so I can't protect you,"_ Inari cried to himself as he stumbled along the halls of his home. Gato's men had come to take his mother as a hostage. They would have killed him too if Tsunami hadn't promised to commit suicide if they attacked him. _"I… don't want to __die_. _I'm afraid…"_ his eyes were filled with tears, completely obscuring his vision. Which was why, when his foot hit something cold and metallic on the floor, he jumped back in surprise.

His mind, fogged up by fear looking out for any escape, focused his entire attention towards the offending object. It was the weapon Naruto had given him earlier. A gun he called it, and if his grandfather was to be believed, a very strong weapon.

"_Remember this kid, just because someone is stronger doesn't mean they're immortal. There's nothing special about Gato or any of his men that makes it impossible to kill them. All you need to know is how"_

It may have been his frightened mind, or it may have been desperation, but something clicked in the young child's mind at the memory of Naruto's words. The weapon in front of him could kill. He could use it to save his mother.

"_If it's truly precious, even if you lose your life, you must protect it with these two hands"_

"_Dad…"_ Inari thought tearfully as he picked up the metallic object. _"Even if I have to kill them, I have to protect mom!"_ he decided as stood up completely and raced outside.

The two thugs and his mother were still close, barely off of the pier that led to their home. It was close enough, he concluded. With shaky hands, the eight year old boy aimed –as best as he could– to hit the larger man's chest, and once he was sure, tightened his finger on the trigger.

A sharp pain raced through his body, almost knocking him out as the tip of the barrel began to glow a dim blue light. But he held firm, and was rewarded for it with a loud bang. It alerted the two swordsmen, causing them to turn around, but it was too late, and with a loud cry, the larger of the two fell down to his knees clutching his shoulder.

"That… little… BRAT!" the burly swordsman hissed between grit teeth, his eyes burning with anger at the kid who had hurt him; his partner doing the same from here he stood.

"Looks like we get to kill this one after all," the thinner swordsman muttered, his voice filled with cold malevolence. He dropped Tsunami's tied form to the ground in a flippant manner as he advanced on the now incapacitated child, slowly drawing his sword and completely ignoring their hostage's pleas.

Inari, meanwhile, was spent. Whatever the gun did, it made him tired, and caused his whole body to hurt. It took all of his will just to stay upright as he stared at the oncoming swordsman, an apologetic look on his face. _"I'm sorry dad… I…couldn't protect mom,"_ he thought glumly.

When the thin swordsman had finally reached him, Inari had had his head bowed, ready to accept his death, _"just like dad did. At least I tried to protect something too."_

"Heh…looks like you know what's coming, don't you kid?" the swordsman taunted, bringing his katana up. Inari squeezed his eyes shut right then, waiting for the final strike to drop down…

"Guah!"

Only to hear a shout from his would-be killer, followed by something crashing into the water. With a sudden jolt Inari looked up, his surprise momentarily overriding the protest his body made at the sudden movement.

There wasn't anyone there except for his mother and the other mercenary. Both of whom were still all the way on the other side of the pier. They also happened to be staring at the top of the house.

"My my my. Attacking a kid and his mother when neither can even fight back. As one who follows my mother's path, I simply cannot condone such actions," a voice from the direction of his mother's gaze drew Inari's attention there as well, where he was greeted by the sight of a white haired girl, pointing a staff towards his direction.

With a dainty step, she jumped from the top of the two story building and onto the wooden wharf, not even making the slightest sound. In some part of his mind, Inari thought of how weird it was that he only now noticed her strange hair ornaments: a pair of black hair decks in the shape of blunt horns.

"You… who the hell do you think you are!" the remaining mercenary demanded, getting back onto his feet. The scene would have been more impressive were it not for his injured arm and shaking legs. Not even Tsunami looked afraid of him now, despite her position, let alone the white haired girl who'd just effortlessly beaten his partner.

"Me?" the girl asked back innocently, pointing at herself in what was probably supposed to pass as a cute gesture. "Why, no one really. Just a regular delinquent girl who can kick ass passing through," she answered before looking over her shoulder towards Inari.

"You know, I'm really surprised that Naruto gave you that. I've _never_ seen him let anyone else use one of his guns. _Ever_," the self-proclaimed delinquent told the boy. "He must really sympathize with you. Heh… really, he may not see it himself, but the guy's a sucker for people like you. Probably because he was a lot like you once too."

She turned back towards the burly swordsman after that, leaving the eight year old boy to think about her words.

-X-

"Hmm… that took a lot longer than I expected."

The sound of an all too familiar voice drew everyone's attention to the end of the bridge. The mist was still thick, but two silhouettes could easily be seen through the white veil, coming closer by the second.

Slowly, a feral smirk spread across Naruto's face, in complete contrast to the grim determination on his teammate's faces. "So you really are ready to go huh? You adapted faster than I expected. Not that there was really all that much to adapt to," the blonde quipped, earning a curious glance from his teacher and male teammate.

An amused laugh was Zabuza's first response; one he carried until he was fully visible in the mist, his masked ally standing right beside him. "Oh, I'll admit, it was confusing at first, but after a few days it was like nothing changed at all."

"Really now?" Naruto asked, "that's good I suppose. If nothing else, it'll at least make things more interesting."

"Naruto, what is he talking about?" Kurenai interjected demandingly. Her gaze going towards her student, even as she kept the nukenin in her range of sight.

"Ha ha ha… nothing really. Just a little irony is all." It was Zabuza who answered, all eyes once more returning towards him as he reached for the Zanbatou strapped onto his back. "But enough about that. It's time for me to finish my job. Haku!"

With a curt 'yes', the masked ninja charged, going into a continuous spin to build up momentum; a single senbon clutched in her hand. Hinata responded almost immediately, charging forward to meet the opposing kunoichi a quarter of the way from her destination.

With her final step, the Hyuga girl angled herself into a fall, twisting her body just as her opponents arms were about to pass over her. With the speed of a snake, she struck at the other kunoichi's forearm with her right, aiming to render it useless.

What landed was only a glancing blow, but from the surprised and pained look Hinata saw underneath her opponent's mask, she knew it was enough.

Still, she wasn't out of the woods yet. Continuing her falling twist, the succubus landed on her knees, her left hand helping support her weight as she attempted another strike, this time aimed at Haku's leg.

The fake Oinin was ready this time though, jumping away before the attack even came close and retaliating with a rain of needles with her good arm. Hinata managed to just barely dodge the attack, leaping quickly to the side with only a single needle sinking into her arm, just below her elbow.

Both combatants stood glaring directly into the other's eyes, neither of them willing to show weakness to the other as they slid into their respective fighting stances. Silence overcame the bridge as they stared off, with Naruto and Zabuza waiting for the result of the brief scuffle, and Shino and Kurenai on guard for Zabuza to make a move.

"That was very impressive, Hyuga-san," complimented Haku, her polite and soft, as though the two hadn't just tried to attack each other just moments ago.

No one else could see it, but for some reason, there was a small smile on the senbon user's face as she spoke. One that Hinata wholeheartedly returned. "You're pretty good as well. Though considering the illusion over my eyes, I'm rather surprised that you found out," the succubus replied mirthfully. "Then again, I guess being able to see through the Kirigakure no jutsu would have been a good hint."

"Indeed, it was," Haku confirmed with a slight nod. "Though what really convinced me was the attack you hit me with. You never managed to hit Zabuza-sama in your fight with him, so I wasn't completely sure whether you really were one of the Hyuga clan, or just a very talented sensor. That you managed to numb my arm with a glancing blow, however…" she trailed off, raising her still unresponsive appendage with her other hand. "In the very least, I managed to do similar. Though I didn't imagine that the Jyuken Zabuza-sama told me about would have such a… burning, feel to it."

"Heh. Normally it doesn't. That effect is just a specialty of mine" the lavender eyed girl admitted. "I'll give you my compliment on your acupuncture skills though," Hinata praised, raising her own numbed arm, "managing to hit a pressure point with a needle, while on the move no less. Very impressive."

"Would you two cut the chitchat and get back to fighting already?" Naruto deadpanned from the sidelines, turning all eyes on him. "I'm serious here. It was fun when you two started talking, but now you've just dragged it-"

"Stay out of this you perverted molester," Hinata interrupted, causing her 'master's' eyes to widen.

"P… per… perverted molester? Where the hell did that come from?" Naruto demanded as everyone focused on him now. For some reason, the frustrated growl that was Hinata's response made his stomach flip in nervous fear.

"Where?" the lavender eyed girl parroted softly, her head lowered in such a way that her bangs prevented one from seeing her eyes. "Where!" she repeated even louder, glaring heavily at her blonde teammate. "I found you in the forest groping her chest and sleeping on top of her! Where the hell do you _think_ that came from?" She burst out, pointing a finger towards her now very surprised opponent.

Silenced reigned for all of a second…"WHAT?" right before everyone but Shino screamed all at once.

"Y… you… yooooouuuuuu! I'm going to fucking kill you!" Zabuza practically roared, forgetting everything else and just charged towards the blonde. Were it a week ago, not even this would've fazed him, but being turned into a demon certainly made things different.

When only using the spell's immediate effect, the personality change was like a double-edged sword. It unleashed one's darkest desires and their true personalities, but also allowed a person's purest wants and repressed emotions to the fore. And from what Naruto was seeing, it seemed like the nukenin had a fatherly side to him.

"_Just my luck."_ He thought irritated. Bringing his own sword to bear, the demonic prince ran to meet his opposition, the light steps trailing behind him indicating the presence of his teacher following along.

"You've got some explaining to do later, Naruto," the familiar voice of team eight's instructor called out, confirming Naruto's deduction. He only gave a nod in reply along with a swing of his sword to block Zabuza's own.

The clash of metal against metal rang in the air.

-X-

Nobody but her opponent could see it, but Haku's jaw had continued to hang agape at what she'd just heard. She knew that she was knocked out during her confrontation a few days prior, and one side of her chest did feel sweatier than the other. But for something like _that_ to have happened...

Right now, the ice user was just glad she had an opponent to focus on, otherwise she might have gone on some sort of womanly rampage. That definitely wouldn't have gone over well for her and her master.

Shaking the thought out of her head, Haku scanned the bridge once more as she tried to form a plan in her head. Her right hand still had that pins and needles feel to it, and the burning sensation she had since getting hit hadn't calmed at all.

"_This isn't good. She's just about as fast as I am, and without a speed advantage, her Jyuken will make quick work of me. Unless I use Makyō Hyōshō, she's sure to win. But if I use only one hand, it'll take too long. She won't give me the chance to do that… unless…"_

Struck with inspiration, the ice user began to pumping chakra through her right arm as she began performing a set of hand seals. _"If I use one hand seals, it will take much longer for me to mould chakra. But if I make it look like I'm using both hands…"_

"It's useless for you to try you know? Your right arm still can't mould any chakra," said Hinata, her face still set into a frown.

Haku smirked triumphantly inside her head, even as her face maintained a determined frown. "That may be true," she began, nearing the end of her chain, "_if_ I was using both hands."

Realization dawned on her opponent as soon as she'd finished her statement, but by then it was too late.

"Hijutsu: Makyō Hyōshō!"

Within a fraction of a second, the water left from the defeated water clones rose up in the air; freezing into ice as it formed large, rectangular sheets. A quick leap back later and Haku found herself inside the familiar territory of her ice mirrors once more.

"While I thank you for informing me of your teammate's… less than decent actions," the ice user began, her opponent's head twitching just the slightest bit in her direction. "I'm afraid to say I cannot repay you. Were it up to me, I would have gladly let you go, but as you intend to impede Zabuza-sama's goals, I'm afraid I have no choice. So please, just fall."

With a fluidity that came from a long time of practice, Haku went on the attack, zooming from one mirror to another. With each leap, a pair of needles were thrown and replaced as she pressed her assault.

The shawl her opponent wore acted as a surprisingly good shield against the hail of needles, but it did nothing to protect her legs. Still, it was enough to hinder her progress. _"I have to find a way around that shawl of hers. I'll run out of chakra before I beat her if I don't."_

-X-

Tazuna felt the sweat running down his face, even as he just stood to watch the two battles playing out before him. Hesitantly –for fear of being killed should he look away– his eyes darted towards the remainder of his guards: Shino at his front, and Naruto's horned wolves at his flanks, both looking more alert than any watchdog had a right to be.

"So why aren't you helping them?" he asked the silent shinobi quietly, his gaze returning towards the far side of the bridge where Kurenai and Naruto were busy fending off an enraged Zabuza.

"I am." If Shino felt insulted by his client's accusations, he didn't give it away with his answer. In fact, apart from answering the question, he didn't even so much as twitch.

"How, exactly?"he followed up, hoping to bring some form of ease to his shaken nerves.

In response, the Aburame scion simply lifted one of his hands, pointer finger up, with a single beetle on top of it. "I may not be much for physical confrontations, but my Kikaichu _are_ capable of eating chakra. I've been having them sneak onto both Zabuza and his accomplice since they made themselves visible."

Tazuna nodded slowly at the explanation, not completely clear but getting the gist of it nonetheless. "Why not just have your bugs swarm them then? More bugs means they have less of that chakra stuff, right?"

It was Shino's turn to nod, curt and confident. "That supposition is correct. However, from Zabuza's reaction to them in our last encounter, it can be correctly assumed that he knows about my Kikaichu and their abilities. His accomplice is likely to be just as knowledgeable. Were I to send them out in swarms, both will likely try to do something to get rid of them, and while that will hinder them, there is no guarantee as to how much it will help."

"So… what? You're just going to have them leech off of them during the fight?"

Once more, Shino nodded. "Until the right opportunity presents itself, yes. It will make the enemy tire faster than normal. The ice user especially. All that is left is to hope that Hinata can withstand her opponent's onslaught long enough."

Tazuna's brow quirked questioningly at his guard's statement. "And you're fine with doing just that?" he asked, a bit confused.

"No. I am not," answered the bug user. "As their teammate, I wish to help them more than I'm able to now. However, I am also a shinobi. That means I must act in a way that would best benefit my teammates and our mission's completion, regardless of how I feel about it."

-X-

Sparks flew as the sound of another clash of swords rang throughout the far end of the bridge. The ensuing deadlock lasted only for a second before both combatants simultaneously stepped back in preparation for another meeting of blades.

"You know, I never took you for someone with a protective streak," Naruto quipped, receiving a growl from his opponent, even as the bandaged man jumped back from a hail of kunai from team eight's jonin.

Countering with a pair of his own knives to put some space between him and his other opponent, Zabuza began a short chain of hand seals, all while dodging Naruto's gunfire assault. "Mizu Bunshin no jutsu!"

As he landed, a multitude of waterspouts erupted from the behind him, the torrents of water coming down just past the railings and forming into two dozen perfect copies of their creator. With an unspoken command, the clones charged at the red clad genjutsu mistress, temporarily leaving only Naruto and Zabuza in the fight.

"Oh, it surprised me as well," he began, a note of anger dripping from each utterance. "Still, it'll make killing you feel all that much better."

With a quick leap, the nukenin charged at the blonde once more, bringing Kubikiribōchō down into a powerful swing. It proved useless though as Naruto brought his own sword up to block, slanting downwards and away from him; his other hand supporting the nodachi mid-way, causing the heavier sword to slide right down.

Smirking up at his opponent, the blonde prince countered with strong kick to the side of the blade, hoping to disarm his the former Kiri ninja. Zabuza saw this though and tightened his hold before his cleaver could be knocked away, using the motion to go into a spinning slash.

With no room for a guaranteed retreat, the blonde instead opted to make a quick turn, angling himself so that the blade would strike where the Reaper gun was holstered. The impact that followed had enough force to send the blonde flying, his coat now sporting a large tear by the hip.

"Okay. That-" Naruto began, pointing at the damage done to his clothing, "that was impressive. This coat's seen me through a hell of a lot of fights and it's never been so much as scratched. That sword must be damn well made."

"Heh, of course it is," Zabuza replied. "Kubikiribōchō is one of the seven masterpieces produced by the founder of Kirigakure himself. I can guarantee you that there isn't a single zanbatou in this world sharper than this one. Not that you'll ever get to know for sure."

So saying that, the bandaged swordsman charged at his quarry once more, swinging his sword into a diagonal slash, duly blocked by his opponent. "Really now?" Naruto asked amidst the deadlock. "That's a shame then. I really don't want to break such a nice weapon, but since that's the only way to kill you now…"

"Then it'll be impossible for you to do so," the nukenin boasted, a confident smirk spreading across his face.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" the blonde swordsman asked once more, putting in a little more power into his arms, just enough to push his enemy away. He didn't wait for a reply though and went on the assault, attacking with a flurry of powerful strikes; shattering his opponent's guard time and time again.

It wasn't until after nearly a dozen attacks had landed before Zabuza was able to brace himself properly again, bringing them into another stalemate. "Oh I prefer to keep that a secret if you don' mind. I'll tell you this though, so long as I can kill, I'll never be killed."

And so the duel continued.

-X-

Kurenai was annoyed. Very annoyed. Not only had she and her student been forced to fight Zabuza two on one, –odds which, in the face of such an opponent, still weren't very good– but she was actually being kept out of the fight. The bandaged nukenin had, at the earliest opportunity, thrown her to a group of clones so that he could take on what he perceived to be the bigger threat.

Make no mistake, the genjutsu mistress was far from being the jealous sort. She didn't really mind that there was someone on her team stronger than her. What she did mind was that the stronger person also happened to be one of the people she was supposed to teach and protect.

Instead, she was here, fighting off a bunch of aquatic constructs while Naruto and Zabuza tried to kill each other. She was supposed to be their jonin instructor for Kami's sake! She worked hard to get where she was now and even then, she still wasn't considered that big of a threat.

"_If we get out of this mission. _When_ we get out of this mission, I'm going to have to start training harder,"_ she thought to herself, dodging out of the way of another slash. She retaliated by driving a kunai deep into the clones shoulder, reducing it to a puddle.

Not stopping there, the genjutsu mistress thrust her foot back, receiving a satisfyingly high pitched cry, followed by the telltale sound of water falling onto stone. A quick swing to her side managed to knock another downwards swing off its course and in the way of a second strike, and though she didn't get out of it completely unharmed, the end result was still changed from decapitation to a smack from the flat side of one of the clones' sword.

Going into a quick roll, Kurenai took the opportunity to grab a handful of kunai, chucking the knives as soon as she stood back up. Most of the remaining water clones managed to block or dodge the assault, but she managed to hit an unfortunately close pair in the chest and stomach.

Their numbers were down to just half now. The rest of the clones now no more than minor annoyances to the remaining combatants.

Narrowing her eyes in determination, the genjutsu mistress slid back into her fighting stance, ready for the next round.

-X-

Hinata grit her teeth as she continued to endure her enemy's onslaught, her Byakugan trying in vain to keep track of the ice user's movements. It frustrated the young succubus that, desite her newfound power and training, she still couldn't do much in her situation. Granted, her wings did help to ward off the rain of needles, but her legs were already feeling weak.

To make matters worse, she just couldn't keep track of Haku's movements. The other kunoichi was simply moving far too fast for her to do anything. In fact, the continuous, light-like streams of chakra that seemed to be pouring out of the mirrors were outright starting to confuse her.

At first, it was easy to keep track of. Whenever Haku would jump from one mirror to another, a thin stream of chakra would go from where she was to her destination. It would have been the perfect opportunity to attack, were it not for the blindingly fast needles thrown at her.

Her chances just degenerated from there as her opponent pressed her attack, not even giving Hinata a chance to fight back. The once small number of light streams multiplying into an inextricable web that only served to impede her sight. _"I have _got_ to learn Kaiten when I get back home. It would really help if I ever get caught in this kind of situation again,"_ she mentally grumbled, clenching her teeth.

Still, despite the seemingly endless attack, she knew that her opponent was quickly running out of chakra. The amount being poured into the technique she was using was massive, and it didn't look like Haku could actually keep up the assault for long. In fact, the ice user was moving a lot slower now than she was just a few minutes ago.

"_Just a little bit more. If I can just keep on my feet for a little while longer."_

-X-

"_Something isn't right,"_ Haku thought to herself, her body moving on autopilot within her dome of mirrors. _"It's only been three minutes, but it feels like I've been using Makyō Hyōshō for twice that long. What could…"_ realization struck her then, and the fake oinin's eyes widened behind her mask. For the briefest of moments, she peeked through the opening in between the mirrors towards the last three members of her enemies' group, particularly at the boy with sunglasses.

"_The Aburame, of course. He must've managed to sneak some of his bugs onto my body."_

She could actually feel them, now that she thought about it. The feeling was extremely subtle, like little pinpricks on her flesh. It was something that even the most experienced of ninja might not notice, if they didn't know what to look for. Truly, the Aburame were more dangerous than they were given credit for.

Now Haku was left with two options, neither of which she was very willing to bet on being to her advantage. It was either continue with her attack and hope that she could beat the Hyuga girl in time, or jump out of her mirrors and use a water jutsu to get the bugs off of her. Unfortunately, both of those had a high chance of failure, and would also end with her having to deal with the Aburame and the two hounds that were guarding their target. Add in the fact that said hounds were likely demons as well, and things definitely weren't looking up for her.

"_Still, if I stop now, there's a good chance that the Hyuga girl will be able to counterattack before I can get any of these things off me. Better to not risk wasting my energy like that."_

Her decision made, Haku pushed herself just the slightest bit more, hoping to find a weakness in her opponent's defence.

-X-

"_She's speeding up again. Looks like this girl's getting desperate. Good, she's more likely to make a mistake now more than ever,"_ Hinata analyzed, standing her ground as another salvo of needles came down on her. Most of them easily bounced off her wings, but like before, a few went and hit her legs.

At this point, she highly doubted she'd be able to walk much. In fact, it actually surprised her that she was still able to stand with how many times she was already hit. That didn't mean she was about to look a gift horse in the mouth though, so instead, the succubus continued to bide her time.

Her patience paid off just moments later, as a sudden explosion rang throughout the bridge.

Desperate to finally penetrate Hinata's defence, the ice user had gone even faster than she had the entire fight in an attempt to add as much force as she could into her needles. Though the attack had worked, having actually pierced through the succubus's wing, –eliciting a grunt of pain– the sudden blast prior had apparently surprised the ice user enough to turn her course erratic. Rather than a direct landing into another one of her mirrors, the ice user wound up shooting in between them instead, and though Haku corrected herself fast enough and managed to enter another mirror, she spent the next few moments seemingly turned her attention towards the source of the explosion.

The short respite was all Hinata needed, and despite the pain she felt from her wing, she couldn't help but smile at her fortune. The delay was small, but the few seconds of delay was enough for her to properly take in her situation.

Hinata knew which mirror the ice user had entered. She knew now which of the chakra streams were old. Most importantly, though Hinata did not possess the Sharingan, she knew that she'd be able to predict Haku's next move.

A Jyuken strike at was simply unreliable against Haku's speed, she needed something big, and fast. Luckily, she had just the thing. Tensing the muscles in her tail, Hinata waited for the newest stream of chakra to form between mirrors.

It shined less than a second later, heralding the ice user's coming assault. With a determined cry, Hinata struck, her tail whirling up and slamming into Haku's midsection. For a moment the sound of bones cracking rung within the dome of mirrors, only for it be replaced by that of shattering glass as the ice user crashed into her own creation.

Deactivating her Byakugan, Hinata allowed herself a second to smile in satisfaction at finally ending the deadlock she had found herself in. She turned towards the downed form of the fake oinin right afterwards, intent on ensuring her victory… only to fall flat on her face as her legs failed her.

With an annoyed grumble, the blue haired succubus looked up towards Haku, expecting the ice user to either be trying to get up, or ling on the ground in various levels of consciousness and pain. Instead, she found that in the small amount of time that she'd fallen down, Shino's insects had already gone on to completely cover the masked kunoichi, very likely draining her of whatever chakra she had left.

More importantly though, far behind Haku's body, both her teammate and their client seemed to be staring at her in shock… or rather, with a foot backed up and his head inclined a bit higher, in Shino's case. Either way, it confused her why they were doing so. Or at least, it did before the rest of Haku's mirrors shattered. A single glimpse at the fragmented ice plates told her all she needed to know.

Her wings and tail were sprawled out and very much visible. Hinata didn't know how it was she didn't feel them at first –though she had a sneaking suspicion that it might have been from one of Haku's needles– but there was one thing she was sure of right now: _"Naruto had better give them a good explanation for this. No way I'm handling this kind of shit."_

-X-

An explosion sounded throughout the bridge from where Naruto and Zabuza were fighting as the two were sent flying away from each other. Skidding to a halt, the blonde opened his eyes and gave himself a once over. His body was littered with cuts, quite a few of which were very deep, but none he needed to worry about. Although the small metal spike stuck on his pants near his inner thighs did make him very thankful for the Rosenqueen's reinforced clothing. He made sure to remove that piece as quickly and carefully as possible before doing anything else.

"_Alright, note to self: Never shoot a charged youki bullet at any weapon at point-blank range ever again. Especially if it's pinned to the floor."_

His momentary lapse in thought over, the blonde raised his head to look at the damage he'd caused. Most of Kubikiribōchō's fragments were littered all over the ground, some of which remaining in the crater made by his last attack. On the other side of the bridge, still holding onto what was left of his giant cleaver was Zabuza, panting heavily and in even worse condition than he was. In fact, the bandaged man's sword arm didn't even look like it could function any more. Of course, given what Naruto knew about his opponent, it wouldn't have surprised him if Zabuza would still keep going.

His suspicions held through soon enough as the man began to stand, using the arm-length spike that was left from his sword like a crutch. His legs were shaky, but the look in his eyes was unmistakable. Zabuza wasn't ready to give up yet, and Naruto was more than willing to meet his gaze.

The stare off didn't last very long, though, as the sound of shattering glass filled the air. A quick glance was all they needed to assess the situation. Hinata had won her fight and Zabuza's only ally had been incapacitated.

"Looks like odds are in our favour again, peach boy," Naruto quipped, smirking at his opponent, "still want to fight back? I'll be more than happy to oblige if you do."

Despite the taunting, Zabuza remained completely unfazed as he got back to full height, bringing his broken sword up to bear. "Naruto may be willing to let this continue, but I certainly won't," a female voice said suddenly from behind him, causing both his, and his opponents eyes to widen.

The bandaged man grunted in pain before he could even look over his shoulders as he felt something pierce him from behind. Taking a single glance behind him, Zabuza's gaze was met with crimson eyes glaring back at his own.

"It's over, Zabuza. You've lost already," said Kurenai, frowning grimly, but confident in their victory nonetheless.

The smirk that played upon the nukenin's lips didn't bode well for her assurance though. "Heh… I'm guessing the brat… really didn't… tell you what he… did to me… did he?" he asked between deep pants. "Something like that… won't be enough to… kill me."

"What he did to you?" Kurenai parroted confusedly. "Naruto, hat's he talking about?" she asked her blonde student, looking over Zabuza's shoulder. He wasn't lying, she as certain of that now. Any normal person would've fallen dead by now, so why…

"I guess you figured it out on your own, didn't you?" Naruto's voice cut through his crimson eyed teacher's musings, bringing her attention completely towards him, even as the blonde started another stare off with Zabuza. "Even still, you vessel's already broken. Given that you aren't exactly all that strong yet, I'd say that you have about five minutes to be completely repaired once you lose possession of that body."

"Naruto, what are you talking about?" Kurenai demanded once more, only for her words to be swallowed up by the nukenin's maniacal laughter. Before she could do anything more, Zabuza made a quick leap backwards, pushing her onto the railings and using all his might to keep her from escaping.

"Heh heh heh. If that's all boy, then it looks like I'm coming out of this alive after all!" the bandaged man declared, raising the jagged spike in his hands up high and in perfect position for a suicidal stab.

"Sensei!"

"Kurenai-sensei!"

Two voices shouted from the start of the bridge as her students watched Zabuza's desperate attack. Kurenai herself wasn't sure what had come over the nukenin, but she knew that she had to get out of there fast, lest she be skewered herself. Fortunately, without his sword stabbing into the ground, Zabuza couldn't push her back hard enough to completely pin her there.

Pushing the bandaged man with all her might, she slipped out away from the suicidal man, right as he ran himself through, coming out with only a shallow cut in her arm.

Zabuza wasn't done though. In a move that truly shocked the otherwise experienced jonin, the nukenin had pulled out the impaling spike as though completely unharmed. Spinning on his feet to add momentum, the bandaged man threw the shattered blade towards Naruto, his own body falling lifeless to the ground.

In response, the blonde genin simply took a long step to the side… only for his eyes to widen at the last second as Kubikiribōchō seemed to repair itself. Far too surprised with the spontaneous reparation of the gigantic cleaver, Naruto had little time to react. With a frantic jump, he managed to keep his life but suffered a deep cut at mid section, letting out a growl of pain as the still jagged sword sliced into him.

Naruto fell on his side just meters away from the blade as it bounced off the railings and clattered into a pool of blood. With a glare of equal parts frustration and morbid curiosity, he turned his eyes towards the sword, as if to reconfirm what he'd just seen.

Sure enough, the gigantic cleaver seemed to be repairing itself, very quickly in fact. More than that, the blood that surrounded it seemed to shrink as the sword grew larger, the trails of blood connected to the crimson puddle being sucked towards it.

"_He's using blood to repair himself. How?"_ Naruto wondered, still staring at the self-restoring sword.

"Well now, isn't this an interesting development."

An amusedly smug voice sounded across the bridge, interrupting Naruto's train of thought. Even with half of them injured and tired, all of team eight, along with their client looked towards the end of the bridge in high alert.

From beyond the thinning mist, numerous figures marched towards the battleground. They came slowly into visible view, revealing their leader to be a short and stout man in a business suit, sneering at the group of ninja.

"I really didn't expect Zabuza to actually die in all of this, at least before I had him killed myself, but I certainly can't complain about the outcome" the business man –whom Naruto rightfully assumed to be Gato– commented, his tone filled to the brim with arrogance. "Now all I have to worry about are a bunch of injured kids and a tired teacher. Perfect."

-X-

And end cliff-hanger. Well, this took a bit longer to write than expected. Then again, the holiday season does tend to keep things busy, especially since my birthday is just a week before Christmas.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this.


	12. Chapter 12

Thank you, my dear readers for taking the time and effort to hear my pleas last chapter. Unfortunately, real life had put a great amount of pressure on me recently, and even still now. I would say that this will probably be my only update in a long while. Still, I am proud to present to you this.

Oh… and I still don't own anything.

**Chapter XII: Beyond the white veil**

"Welcome, one and all to another segment of Charlotte's exposition corner!" a smiling Charlotte announced as the curtains split open, revealing the galaxy mage sitting on a fancy armchair.

"Once again, thanks to all of our loyal readers for tuning in. Today, we'll be covering basic demon knowledge. More specifically, the Alastor race." As she spoke, a screen lit up behind her, showing illustrations of a sword, spear, axe and bow. "Alastors are a rather curious species. They can take the form of any simplistic weapon, not necessarily limited to the ones shown above-"

She pauses, just as the slide changes to show a gun on one side, and a staff on the other, with a large question mark in between. "However, weapons with complex mechanisms like guns and the like are out of their reach. For this same reason, weapons such as beam swords/spears/etc. also cannot turn into Alastors."

"There also exists such things as staff Alastors, however, with the rarity of this particular type, combined with the number of staves that were given sentience through magic, it's become pretty difficult to judge which is which. Granted, staves aren't the only weapons given magical sentiency, but they _are_ the most common."

She pauses again, the picture on the screen now changing to show a white silhouette of a demon with 'X's for eyes and a blue gas escaping from it and into a sword. Beside it was another picture of Agni and Rudra, with arrows going from them and towards a pair of swords.

"Second, the formation of Alastors, and their differences from magichanged demons. To begin with, whereas magichanged demons are creted when… well, a demon magichanges into a weapon, Alastors are 'born' when someone who has used the same weapon for most of their life dies and left with their weapon. Given the usual habits of demons though, Alastors are actually more likely to pop up when a human dies and isn't pillaged of their weaponry. Being buried with their weapons also increases the chances that the weapon will eventually absorb their former wielder's soul."

"To go further, while magichanged demons essentially become no different than any other weapon, –save for the fact that they can still use certain abilities– Alastors are, for all intents and purposes, fully living beings. They can possess the minds of those with weaker wills than them, and, if they're strong or experienced enough, can even function on their own. Unfortunately, this also comes at a price. Being living weapons, if their vessels are left damaged for too long, the soul will eventually 'leak out' so to say, killing them in the process. The more damaged the vessel, the faster the loss. To add to that, as Alastors themselves are closer to lost souls bound by demonic power rather than being actual demons, they can't be easily brought back to life, always needing to preserve their original bodies lest they turn into prinnies."

Once more, Charlotte stops and the illustration shifts to one divided into three parts: the top picture showing a sword with an arrow starting from it and pointing at a fist, the middle showing Etna holding a trident-like spear with eyes, and the last picture showing a floating set of armour.

"Now to the final part: miscellaneous information. For those of you who are curious, yes, Alastors are capable of magichanging. What makes this interesting is that, no matter what form the Alastor has, they always magichange into Fist-type weapons, which would actually belong to the Animor species. Speaking of which, the Animated Armors –or Animors, for short– acts as the sibling species to the Alastors. More on that later. Lastly, as rare as they are, one Alastor actually has already appeared in both this story, and in the game. More specifically, it's the spear that Queen Etna used in chapter 3, Longinus, who also appears in the original Disgaea game; a polearm Alastor who'd originally sworn loyalty to the late King Krichevskoy."

"Also, one last fun: while Alastors who were born from demon wielders –like most other demons– are very hard to obtain loyalty from, actually earning their loyalty pretty much means you can use them without worrying about them possessing you."

Finally, the screen turns blank and shuts off as Charlotte rises from her chair and curtsies. "That's all the time we have for today. Thank you for anyone who took the time to read through this. Your patience is well appreciated."

-X-

"Well now, isn't this an interesting development."

An amusedly smug voice sounded across the bridge. Even with half of them injured and tired, all of team eight, along with their client looked towards the end of the bridge in high alert.

From beyond the thinning mist, numerous figures marched towards the battleground. They came slowly into view, revealing their leader to be a short and stout man in a business suit, sneering at the group of ninja.

"I really didn't expect Zabuza to actually die in all of this, at least before I'd have him killed myself, but I certainly can't complain about the outcome" Gato commented, his tone filled to the brim with arrogance. "Now all I have to worry about are a bunch of injured kids and a tired teacher. Perfect."

In the silence that descended on the bridge after the short man's words, the snickers and chuckles of glee from the bandits accompanying him could even be heard from the other side of the structure. Uncontrolled bloodlust seemed to fill the air as more and more of Gato's muscle became visible, each of them wearing manic grins on their faces. A few brave –or foolish– souls among them even pointed lecherous eyes towards the two females on the team; ogling them shamelessly, even as the older of the two glared back at them.

Hinata followed Kurenai's example, too, as soon as she managed to set herself up in a seated position, her legs still too numb from all the damage they'd taken.

Team eight was outnumbered, that much was obvious. To make it worse, Naruto had already taken heavy damage, Hinata was mostly incapacitated and Kurenai had exhausted a good portion of her chakra. Perhaps the only consolation was that Shino had yet to still do much, nor had Agni and Rudra, meaning all three were fit to fight. Still, with such a large disadvantage in quantity, it didn't look good for team eight at all. Keyword being 'look'.

Despite everything, none of the ninja were actually that worried. Had it been a group of other shinobi and kunoichi at just a tenth of the bandits' numbers and they probably would have began sweating, but a group of thugs wouldn't amount to much; especially not in the face of an Aburame. Being able to control a huge swarm of chakra eating bugs made the members of the insect using clan from Konoha perfect for quelling mass numbers of untrained hostiles. A single wave of bugs is all it would take to quickly incapacitate a group of people with chakra levels as low as a common farmer.

Of course, as mercenaries like Gato's muscle were rarely ever put against ninja, they tended to underestimate them; if not in power then in skill. This was most likely the case as it was blatantly obvious none of the thugs were worried that Shino was obviously still fresh and ready for battle. In fact, none of them seemed to pay attention to the few bugs that had already managed to latch onto them.

"Hey boss," one of the lead bandits called out, getting his employers attention. The man could have easily fit in amongst the Akimichi clan had it not been for his completely dishevelled appearance, easily taller than all of team eight and twice as thick as any of them. "Is it alright if I take that old mummy's sword as a bonus for this job?" the stout man asked, a greedy grin spread wide across his face.

Gato regarded the speaker for a moment, even as the thug made his way to the front, easily pushing past anyone in his way, causing a lot of protests from the group. The businessman paid no mind to this, opting to focus on contemplating the request. It didn't last for long though, and soon, a sneer had developed on his mug. "You may loot whatever trinkets you wish-" he gestured towards Kurenai and Hinata, "as long as the two women remain alive and in good condition. Otherwise, there will be... consequences."

The large merc laughed amusedly at the proposal, accepting it without even a second thought before making his way to the giant blade near Naruto's feet. He wasn't the only amused.

Though Naruto himself made sure not to show it, he too was laughing in his head, just for a completely different reason. Unlike everyone else, –well, almost– he was aware of just how this little debacle would turn out if the fat guy got a hold of Kubikiribōchō. Now it was all just a matter of steering things in a better direction. With a smarmy smirk on his face, Naruto moved to the side so he'd be easier for the businessman to see.

"Oi, Gayto was it?" the blonde inquired jokingly, well aware of the questioning glance that had probably been directed at him by his team, to which he responded with a gesture to stand down. The look of irritation on Gato's face was both priceless and perfect as he shouted his name in reply. "Yeah whatever," the demon prince brushed off, further infuriating the midget. "Do me a favour and correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks to me like you were planning to stab Zabuza in the back after he finished us off."

The cheerful and condescending tone in Naruto's request only served to add more fuel to Gato's anger; the short businessman already clenching his fist at the obviously insulting jibe. "And what of it!" he snapped back rhetorically, calming himself down before continuing. "I'm a businessman, boy. Money is everything, and quite frankly, that fog nut cost far too much than he was worth. And to make things even better, I can also collect the reward for his head. Besides, for what reason would you care about a nukenin? You're just another lackey to your village, trained to be whored off to whoever who's willing to pay."

Slightly perturbed at being called both a lackey and a man-whore, Naruto still kept on with his act… or at least tried to. The erratic twitching on his face didn't quite make it convincing, but he made an effort nonetheless. "So you weren't planning on paying him after all huh?" he gritted out, ambling away as the large merc reached for the sword.

"Hey don't even waste your time on this brat, boss," the now kneeling thug called out, directing a malicious glare towards the blonde, "I'll take care of 'im soon enough."

Finally, his meaty hands closed around the sword's handle and his body suddenly stiffened. The large man paused for a moment, simply rubbing his hand across the handle, seemingly humming in contemplation.

When he finally picked it up and got back on his feet, there was something noticeably different about his stance. It was… more controlled was how most would describe it, as though he was much more ready to fight. He placed the back of the sword upon his shoulder and began to step back towards the rest of the mercenary.

"You know, I bet you would've really enjoyed it if we killed Zabuza ourselves, right?" the stout man asked, directing a grin towards Gato. When the short businessman nodded in affirmation, his grin turned absolutely manic. "Yeah, I thought so. But then, it probably wouldn't be as enjoyable as cutting up a backstabbing son of a bitch like you."

Before anyone could even process what had been said, Gato's head had already been fitted though the hole on Kubikiribōchō's blade. A single, strong pull combined with a powerful kick later, and the midget's head was ripped off; a fountain of blood from the jagged neck painting many of the front most bandits crimson.

The shock paralyzing almost everyone on the bridge came at a heavy cost to the rest of Gato's entourage as the stout man followed up with a powerful horizontal slash, bisecting the entire front row and disembowelling most of the second. It wasn't until another half dozen or so men were sliced apart did the mercenaries regain their senses and drew their weapons, already having lost a quarter of their numbers.

It was all for naught though. Without even trying to dodge, the stout mercenary sent his gigantic blade crashing down on his next victim, bisecting him from head to groin, even as the man's own sword pierced his killer's neck; the partially rusty katana just missing the spine and coming out on the other side of his neck.

Before anyone could think that the fight should be over at that point, the Zanbatou wielding mercenary's attack suddenly grew more furious. Hoisting the blade on to his shoulder once more, he used his free hand to grab the half of the man that held the sword piercing his throat, pulling it viciously away to club another mercenary to the ground before bringing Kubikiribōchō down on him; cleaving his flesh and crushing his bones all at once.

Once the thought that their attacker should have died already crossed their minds, many of the remaining men had fallen to their backs in fear; backpedalling away in a futile attempt to run from the demon before them. They didn't get very far before the large man was on them, and with a single sweeping swing, they were all either sliced in two, or had their ribs, skulls or necks broken from the force behind the assault.

Again, all those who bore witness could do nothing but stare as a man defied certain death, yet still continued to deal it; the momentary pause causing another casualty as one of the shaking mercenaries was thrown off his feet. A swift stomp on his neck left him gasping for air as his trachea was crushed beneath large and powerful feet. His skull was soon crushed beneath the tip of Kubikiribōchō's blade.

Seeing this seemed to shake the men out of their stupor, and many began to run, though a few brave –or otherwise stupid– souls tried to press on. A series of sword slashes, stabs and slices cut into the stout man's body, even as he slowly stood up, each ignored or countered; the monstrosity of a swordsman sending blood and gore flying as he continued to decapitate, disembowel, lobotomise and just plain massacre the horde. One man thought he'd gotten lucky when his blade sank into the larger one's neck, dodging a sword swing before turning his entire body to the left, pulling his sword with him and cut his opponent's head off in a messy display.

But like everything else before it, the act amounted to nothing. The tables had turned on the decapitator before he even had a chance to move. A powerful kick at the base of his spine sent him headfirst into the bridge railings, where his skull was crushed with the back of Kubikiribōchō.

The frightened survivors entered the stage of complete horrified hysteria in the face of the now headless killer before them, their formerly tough façade not even leaving a ghost in its wake. There were only six of them left, and each of them already had a distinctively darker spot on their pants; a smell much like ammonia wafting through the air, masked only by copious amounts of blood.

They were in a state of fear and panic. A state usually heralding rash and ultimately futile actions. What one did next though, while futile nonetheless, was still much smarter than one would expect. Seeing the great severing sword come at him next, one of the survivors grabbed the man next to him and used him as a shield. The large blade sank diagonally into the man, breaking his ribs and pushing one of the broken ones straight into his heart.

The sooner than planned resistance, though, stopped the giant cleaver from cutting through cleanly, not having built enough momentum to cut through at a premature time. This gave the sacrificing bandit just enough time to raise his sword high, and bring it down on his opponent's arms, depriving the walking carcass of its weapon.

And just like that, the body fell on its back. Pools of blood collecting under the now motionless corpse.

At first, the five survivors could hardly believe their eyes; continuing to stare fearfully at the body of the… demon that had terrorized them just moments ago. Then, they became more confident, stepping lightly towards the body and giving it experimental pokes with their weapons. When no reaction came, the five shared a relieved sigh-

"If you think it's over, you might want to look behind you," Naruto suddenly suggested, pointing at the spot right in between the confused mercenaries. Somehow, the shocked and scared looks on the other ninja's faces sent a chill down their spines.

Craning their heads to look behind them in a slow, paranoid motion, the inkling of horror that clenched their souls escalated over a dozen fold at the sight that greeted them, crushing whatever hope they had that what they thought was happening wasn't actually real. Right there, just a few steps from the edge of the bridge stood the previously sacrificed mercenary, way too far to have simply stumbled there, and smiling maniacally, completely ignoring his obviously fatal injury.

Fear gripped their bodies as two of them backed away, the remaining three sinking to their knees and begging what could only be a demon out to kill them for mercy. The two would-be escapees found themselves thrown closer towards the moving corpse by a blast of whirling, gale force winds as soon as they began to run. One was killed shortly after by a skull-crushing downward stab from the heavy blade, followed by a lever-like motion that brought the rest of the sword's blade down on the second one's neck.

The three who were left begging may as well have been trying to dehydrate themselves as they sweated, cried and soiled themselves all at once. Their pleas were left unanswered in the end as the hellish being smacked them down with the flat of its blade. One was lucky enough to have been knocked unconscious, losing his life moments later when his torso was sliced horizontally into two. The others weren't so lucky and wound up being decapitated while screaming in absolute fear.

Nothing moved for a while after that, all those who hadn't been brutally killed simply watching the scene in horror, morbid fascination, disgust and, in the case of one individual, approval.

"Heh… you know, I really have to thank you for doing this to me kid," the walking corpse suddenly spoke, scaring the living daylights out of all the human's present. Standing to full height and raising its sword, the animated body regarded the blonde shinobi with an amused smirk. "Really, if I didn't hear about you groping Haku in her sleep, I might have been willing to serve you, like those vassals of yours," it continued, pointing towards Agni, Rudra and Hinata in turn, a glint of satisfaction appearing in its eyes as it noticed the irritated look on Naruto's face.

"How do you know about that?" the blonde prince demanded, momentarily suppressing his annoyance. It spiked not long after though, as the possessed corpse shrugged offhandedly.

"A little white birdie, or bat, I suppose would be more appropriate, told me about it. Offered me a job too," Zabuza answered, shortly before spinning around and throwing Kubikiribōchō off the bridge. As the corpse, having lost the spirit possessing it, fell to the ground, the sound of beating wings and the cry of a bird, ten times louder any normal bird could produce rang through the air giving pause to all those present. Then, like a flash of white lighting, an eagle like beast with alban plumes, easily twice the size of an average man, swooped down towards the same side of the bridge before flying up once more; Kubikiribōchō grasped firmly in one of its feet.

With a beat of its great wings, the mighty avian stopped in midair, turning around as though it was hovering. Naruto soon found himself glaring into emerald eyes as the pristine beast regarded him for all of a few seconds before turning its eyes elsewhere. It took team eight a moment to figure out just where its eyes where pointed, but by then the bird had already dived after its second target: the unconscious Haku.

With a feat of speed many would have thought impossible for its size, the white bird lunged at the still form of the ice user, its free claw ready to grab its target before the group's very eyes before flying off one more. A loud and victorious cry was the last thing they heard as it disappeared into the clouds.

There was silence once again, as the group stared where the giant creature had last been seen, most of them quite tired of the number of surprises that had been put in front of them thus far. Then they all turned to what they rightfully deduced to be at the centre of it all: Naruto.

"You've got a _lot_ of explaining to do, Naruto," Kurenai practically ordered, her crimson eyes boring into the blonde's own azure orbs. When he looked at least a bit nervous, she switched targets to her only female student, who was only just regaining feeling in her legs. "Hinata, you as well."

-X-

Kurenai sighed tiredly as she leaned back on her chair, giving in to the urge to massage her temples. Across from her sat Naruto, his wings folded behind him and bandages covering his injury. His two pets sat on their haunches on either side of his chair, watching silently. Hinata lay on a cot a little more behind him, her legs still feeling a little numb, but otherwise fine. Everyone else was either sitting on a different side of the table or –in Tsunami's case– behind the kitchen counter. It actually amazed the crimson eyed Jonin a bit that the woman could still calmly wash the dishes after a meal when Naruto had just been telling them what was probably the most outlandish tale they'd ever heard. Then again, she was more amazed that no one was scared of the four demons.

The group had gone back to Tazuna's house after the entire bridge debacle, a decision half made due to the stress of the whole situation, and partly due to most of them just wanting to know what the hell it was that was going on with Naruto, Hinata, Naruto's pets, Zabu… actually, pretty much every single person that was directly involved in the mission, was still alive, and had… unique appendages. Granted, the layer under Shino's skin that housed his insects could probably be called 'unique' too, but technically wasn't an appendage.

The entire rundown had taken no less than four hours, which wasn't helped by the fact that most of the people in the village were either celebrating or tending to the workers Zabuza had attacked. The sounds of music and hundreds of loud shouts not only forced Naruto to repeat himself more than once, but also contributed to Kurenai's migraine as well.

"So… to summarize…" Kurenai began tiredly, "you-" she brought a hand away from her head and pointed towards her blonde student, "-are the prince of hell-"

"Netherworld," Naruto instantly corrected. "I'm the prince of _A_ netherworld."

"Right. The prince of a netherworld, who's mother –one of the daughters of the current king-"

"Overlord."

"_Overlord_– was abducted to be trained and used as a weapon by the people who summoned her."

"Actually, it was my grandmother they-"

"_Moving on."_ the Jonin cut in, her face scrunched up in un uncharacteristically teeth gnashing growl. It was clear that she didn't want any more interruptions. "She was later rescued by a group of people who sealed her into a human form and adopted her. Those same people somehow ended up taking refuge in Konoha with your mother with them, where she gave birth to you."

The crimson eyed woman paused for a moment, staring questioningly at Naruto to make whatever corrections he needed to make now. The demon prince, a slight grimace present on his face from her previous reprimand, nonetheless nodded his head to tell her that she was on the right track.

Kurenai sighed once more. "After that, the Kyubi –whose name is apparently Kasumi–" she took another pause, this time to give her two winged students a dubious stare, "attacked Konoha under the control of some mysterious shinobi, during which your parents were killed."

"And then Kasumi sealed inside of me. Yes," Naruto confirmed, not caring in the least about the information he'd just given out. Of course, the only people who weren't privy to that bit of information when he included it in his tale were Shino and Tazuna's family. They'd long since gotten over the surprise, if only because even more shocking information followed right after.

Kurenai simply let the matter drop. It wasn't like the information would've changed anything, given everything else she'd learned. "A few years later, your demonic powers awakened, which also alerted a bunch of demon ninja-" she shuddered at the thought of such beings "-who were sent by your grandparents to search for your mother. Instead, they found you, but recognized your energy signature as something that only belonged to a tribe of demons whose only living member at the time was your grandfather, so they took you back to him anyway."

Naruto was almost tempted to correct his Jonin sensei again by saying that only one of them had found and rescued him, but held his tongue. It would only aggravate her more, and while the blonde normally wouldn't have had any problems with aggravating anyone, even he knew the horrors of an angry woman. After everything that had happened, he wasn't very willing to face one, even if she wouldn't have been able to match his mother or grandmother at their worst.

"Moving on from there, you made a deal with the Shinigami to bring your parents back to life, but in return, you have to hunt down a few pseudo-immortals for him who are at large in the Elemental Nations. After that, you decided come back to Konoha, offering a possible alliance if you decided that the village was 'worthy' of it, after scouting it out yourself."

"That still doesn't make any sense to me," Tazuna interjected, apparently not having fully comprehended Kurenai's mood. A quick and distasteful glare shut him up almost immediately, and made the old man shrink into his chair.

"A few weeks after that, you offered to turn Hinata-" she pointed at her female student, "-into a demon in order to help her become a better ninja. An offer she accepted half-way through the Scroll of Seals incident. Everything else from there…"

"More or less leads to our current situation," Naruto finished for her, yawning in boredom. "Since you've obviously grasped the basics, I'm guessing you have some questions?"

"Why did you choose to return to Konoha?" Kurenai demanded, not missing a beat. Her eyes narrowed into a glare that could pierce through stone. "As Tazuna-san has pointed out, your goal seems to be to track down these individuals the Shinigami told you to hunt down. That you would choose to stay in Konoha makes no sense, so why?"

"No fooling around when you're like this huh?" the unperturbed blonde replied jokingly. "Well, if you must know, I actually have several reasons." Here he paused, straightening his posture a bit to look more serious. "To begin with, there's the fact that I'm not just looking for any old bunch of individuals. I'm looking for individuals that are actively trying to hide themselves."

"And your point is?" the Jonin pressed on. Naruto threw her an annoyed look in response.

"Let me put it this way: My grandfather sent hundreds of our best ninja to find someone who never even had any intentions of hiding. All of them were thrown off for an entire twenty seven years just because my mother's powers were somehow sealed away. Quite frankly, they suck at that particular part of their job. The Ankokukaigan no me(1) could probably find them easier, but with how hyperactive they are, any self respecting ninja they'd find would probably just end up spotting them and either getting away or stopping them."

The deadpan expression on Naruto's face would probably have been very humorous at any other time, but given the current situation, no one was in the mood to laugh. "Anyway," the blonde continued, sighing exasperatedly, "since using our own resources was out of the question, it was decided that we'd just outsource all the searching to a local hidden village. And of course, seeing as I already had some connections to the Hokage, we chose Konoha."

He stopped there, satisfied with the answer he'd given. However, while Tazuna and his family felt that that was all that was needed to be said, both his sensei and male teammate thought otherwise. Certainly, everything the blonde had said answered the question of why he'd gone to Konoha, but it left one thing out.

"What of the alliance?" Shino questioned, speaking up for the first time.

"Legitimate," the prince replied, "while using the village as an information source was my primary objective, adding Konoha to the Krichevskoy kingdom's list of allies would be a great bonus. Of course, that's provided they 'pass', so to say."

"And if that _isn't_ the case?" Kurenai followed up.

"Don't know," Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. "In the end, grandpa's the one who makes all the decisions. I just do the reports. I mean sure, I get the say on whether we do go on with the alliance, but he expects me to tell him why and what for. I'm thinking it's probably some kind of lesson for me or something."

"… You… don't… know?" Kurenai muttered in disbelief. "What do you mean 'you don't know'?" she repeated, her tone sounding more and more incredulous. "Didn't you say you were the prince?"

"Well yeah, I did. Doesn't mean that I know everything that'll happen if stuff like this goes wrong," Naruto deadpanned, putting his hands behind his head as he leaned into his chair. "Look sensei, one thing you have to understand is that, when it comes to demons, politics isn't normally complex. To be Overlord all you'd have to do is kill the current Overlord or, if there isn't one already, prove yourself more powerful than all the other claimants to the throne. Stuff like murky politics only come in when dealing with heaven or human worlds."

"But you're already allied with heaven," the Jonin countered. "You said so yourself. If that's the case, how can you _not_ know about the proper procedures for these sort of situations?"

The question, much to Kurenai's relief, seemed to have gotten the boy into a contemplative state. _"maybe _now_ we'll finally get some answers about this."_

Sadly for her, after just a single minute, Naruto could only muster a shrug. "Never really bothered to learn about it," he answered offhandedly, dampening his teacher's mood.

Once more, the genjutsu mistress rubbed her temples, sighing in resignation as she tried to think of a way to get more information. For the life of her, she really couldn't understand how or why the Hokage had agreed to such a vague arrangement as this. And with _demons_ no less. Granted, neither Naruto nor Hinata had done anything truly abhorrent yet, as many would no doubt expect from their 'kind'. Still, it remained a fact that the Kyubi, who tried to destroy their village thirteen years ago was with them, a fact that was well known among the shinobi council. Mind control be damned, that still should have amounted to some form of wariness.

"_Alright. Calm down Kurenai. It won't do you any good to get even more frustrated. Remember, you don't have the whole story yet. Naruto mostly focused on his background and Hinata's 'transformation' when he explained things. He didn't say anything about his grandfather's interaction with the Hokage other than that he'd arranged the meeting to be held. Wait until you have all the information, then make conclusions. For now focus on more recent events."_

Taking a deep breath, Kurenai turned her attention back to her blonde student…

"So to put it simply, my grandpa charged into heaven, beat the resident high seraph, learned that it was all a plot setup by his late father to form better relations. They finalized the alliance contract within a month."

… and found herself giving the boy a confused stare. It was probably pretty evident too, since Naruto had easily caught onto it; a teasing smirk playing at the edge of his lips. In fact, when she looked over to the sides of the table, she found even Tazuna and Inari giving her strange looks. Oddest of all, when she looked at Shino, the boy almost seemed hurt.

"You know sensei," Naruto began, the grin on his face spreading, "I don't know very much about being a teacher, but I'm pretty sure that always zoning out whenever the same student says something vital isn't very good practice."

It took a while for Naruto's words to actually register in her head, but once they did, the Jonin couldn't help but be flushed with embarrassment. This marked the third time she'd gotten lost in thought when Shino had said or asked about something important. That was actually a big problem she'd had for a long time. Getting lost in thought, that is.

It was actually why she'd taken so long to earn Jonin rank. Ridding herself of her habit to over think everything had taken her a long time, and while it was useful at times, she wasn't anywhere as fast at it as the Nara. Unfortunately, while she _had_ curbed her problem, it would still pop up whenever she was either too stressed, or too relaxed.

"Umm… yes. Sorry," Kurenai apologized awkwardly. It wasn't exactly easy to say sorry to your own student, at least amongst ninja, much less for being distracted by your own thoughts. "What exactly were you two talking about?" she asked.

"I asked Naruto-san how his grandfather made an alliance with heaven," Shino replied plainly, the slight creases on his face disappearing once more into his stoic demeanour. "A rather interesting and… unusual story, to say the least. It does make me more confident that this offer of an alliance is legitimate though."

Kurenai nodded slowly, letting the information sink in. Certainly, with what little she'd heard of the, hopefully, short tale –as obviously, it wouldn't do for her to have been out of it for too long– the story behind it most certainly must have been unique.

"And my words earlier weren't enough… why… exactly?" Naruto cut in, his question somehow taking on a half-serious, half-joking tone. Whichever was the case, he still received his answer via a 'you know damn well why' look from Kurenai.

For the fourth time that day, Kurenai allowed a sigh to escape her. "Well, obviously we won't be getting anywhere else concerning your grandfather's alliance offer. Also, both of you _have_ proven to be… mostly… trustworthy. As such, I suppose this discussion can be postponed for a later date."

"That said, let's move on to more recent matters," the genjutsu mistress decided, placing her crossed arms on the table to support her, her crimson eyes staring intently at her student. "You've already covered the whats, whys and hows concerning you and, in a way, Hinata. Now I want to know what happened on that bridge."

For a while, Naruto did nothing but meet her gaze. A defiant glint was present in his eyes, taunting her, telling her outright just how much authority her orders had over him. Then, suddenly, it just vanished; a gleam of amusement taking its place.

"Do you remember what I did right before Zabuza and his apprentice got away the first time?" the half demon prince asked, receiving a nod of affirmation from his Jonin instructor, andmixture of looks of confusion and curiosity from everyone else. "That was the spell that turns people into demons."

All but a single pair of eyes in front of Naruto gave the blonde a shocked and incredulous stare at his announcement. Only Kurenai didn't look surprised, already having come to the same conclusion. Not that it was a difficult connection to make, given that everything else that had happened pointed to a single conclusion.

She did have one question though: "why?" the genjutsu mistress asked tersely, staring intently at the blonde, as if trying to look for the answers for herself from his face.

"He thought it would make fighting him more interesting," Hinata cut in, speaking for the first time since they'd left the bridge. For a while, the five humans could only stare blankly at the succubus, unable to comprehend the situation. Then their expressions turned incredulous as they all turned their collective attention back to Naruto.

Kurenai felt her eye twitch as the blonde refused to meet their gaze. Not even the fact that the at least had the decency to be a little embarrassed spared him from the genjutsu mistress' oncoming wrath. As seconds passed by she began trembling in place, her head angling downwards, casting her face in the shadows of her hair.

On instinct, all the people that were situated on the table began inching away as far as they could without leaving their seats. Any thought concerning what they had just heard from Hinata disappearing from their minds. All that was left in their heads was a single thought: _"This won't end well."_

"THAT'S IT?" she shouted, rising to her feet. "THAT'S WHY YOU DECIDED IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO PULL THAT STUNT? ARE YOU INSANE? WHAT KIND OF IDIOT WOULD DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THEIR ENEMY STRONGER?"

"Sensei, losing control of our temper will not help the discussion. Please… calm down," Shino tried to placate the enraged woman.

"Don't you tell me to calm down!" Kurenai shot back before facing her other male student once more, still angry, yet –despite her rebuttal– apparently more in control of herself.

"How could you just do something like that just because you felt like it? Do you realize how close you came to dying in that fight?"

Even if she wasn't shouting as loudly as before, the silence from outside –likely brought about by her initial outburst– seemed to make voice even louder.

"So?" the blonde questioned back, the weak and childish tone in his voice surprising all those present. "I managed to come out alive," he argued, his eyes shifting towards the Jonin warily, "I'm already healing from it too, so it's not like there's anything to complain about."

Kurenai's frown deepened upon hearing her charge's reasoning. "Is that so?" she asked rhetorically, eyeing the bandages around the boy's abdomen, "Naruto, what you did put yourself at risk, it put the client at risk and above all else, it put your _team_ at risk. Giving the enemy that kind of power could have easily led to all of us being killed in that fight. "

"But _none_ of us did," the blonde retorted defiantly. "Besides, I took care of the situation myself didn't I?"

"That's _not_ the point," Kurenai rebuked, putting as much authority into her tone. "That we all managed to keep our lives through that fight is a good thing, I'll make no arguments there. However, that fact alone does not excuse you for what you did."

"As things stand, the problem here is that you completely disregarded both your team's as well as the client's wellbeing. I know you're a prince, but that doesn't give you the right to put other people at risk for your own amusement!"

"I know that!" Naruto shot up hotly, meeting the crimson eyed Jonin's glare with his own. It didn't last though, as soon enough, the frustration on his face seemed to melt off into discomfort; his focus going from his sensei's face and towards floor beside his chair. "A ruler's greatest resource is his people. To waste that resource is something only a foolish monarch would do. To protect it is the act of the wise. I've been given the lesson before."

"Then why haven't you been acting on it?" the genjutsu mistress pressed on, finally feeling as though she was getting somewhere. When her student's examination of the floor beside him grew more intense, she knew it was her chance to finish the entire debacle. She could only hope that this was the last time they'd have to go over something like this. "Tell me, Naruto, if the girl who fought Hinata had also been turned into a demon, how different would the fight have turned out?" No response. "If Zabuza had been lucky enough to kill you, who could've stopped him from killing all of us?" The prince remained silent. "If Zabuza hadn't just stopped with those mercenaries, how well do you think we could have done to defend ourselves?"

Silence…

Kurenai sighed and sat back down. She was calmer now, more like her usual self. "Listen, Naruto, I don't know what kind of training you received in the Netherworld, or how powerful you really are. At this point, I can't even say that I really care. What I _do_ care about is that you're my student, and that means that it's my responsibility to teach you to be a real Konoha ninja… just like I'm sure your father was. And that means no putting your team in unnecessary danger. Am I understood?"

Again, silence…

To Naruto, it was almost like being scolded by his swords instructor again. The leader of the ten generals, Gunshin(2), Akumei Motoko was widely known across multiple netherworlds for three things: Her skill with a sword, her unique treatment of her subordinates, and her ability to somehow make you feel emotional pain for the stupidity of your actions with words alone. A person who knew how take a problem with you, turn it personal, then use everything else she knew about you to guilt you into changing whatever habit you had which she didn't like.

She also happened to be one of the few people who Naruto could never win an argument against whenever she was serious about a topic. Kurenai, unfortunately for him, seemed to have joined that short list of people.

This, of course, was something the blonde simply couldn't accept, and he was more than willing to resist her command until he could somehow manage to win…

"Alright fine! So I messed up! What do you want me to do about it?"

… a feat which would have been infinitely easier if Charlotte had written up an argument for this topic, just like when he'd talked to Hiashi about Hinata's transformation.

The crimson-eyed Jonin sighed once more –something she'd been doing a lot for the past hour or so–finally regaining her full composure. Then she eyed her scowling student impassively, not giving the slightest hint about her intentions. Again, she sighed, this time shallower than the last. "Well right now, we can't really do anything about it. Not when we still have a mission to complete," she told the boy, analyzing the situation at hand.

"The deaths of people who deal in the black market like Gato are never silent affairs, especially considering the celebration that the village had when they heard about it… however brief it may have been." She noted, for the first time then, how the background noise had since dimmed down. It was louder than when she'd first shouted, but certainly not as audible as back then. "In all likelihood, some of the more… assertive under the table dealers will try to take over the situation. They'll probably bring in some hired ninja forces of their own, and in larger groups as well."

A pair of red eyes glared towards Naruto once more. "Naruto, I don't want the incident with Zabuza to repeat itself, am I clear?" Kurenai paused for the blonde's confirmation, receiving a begrudging nod in return. "Good," the Jonin nodded back, "and tell you what, if you can avoid getting caught up in that battle-lust of yours, I'll consider this problem a personal matter. However, we will still have to work on this once we return to the village."

Again, Naruto nodded, still scowling as he looked away. _"For all his apparent 'maturity', it seems that in the end, Naruto's still a kid at heart,"_ thought the genjutsu mistress amusedly, her previous frustrations nearly leaving her completely. She leaned back into her chair, arms crossed, and decided to change the subject to a much more comfortable zone.

"Regardless of the situation, Zabuza –or at least, I'm pretty sure that _was_ Zabuza– also mentioned already being given a job and –from the way you two were talking about it– it would seem that his newest contractor is demon as well. You wouldn't happen to have a clue about who did this, do you?"

And just like that, the tension in the air thinned a great deal, and the blonde was able to face her again. The scowl on his face still remained though. "Yeah, that was Zabuza alright. I'll explain later. Anyway, about his employer… I have a good guess, but I can't be sure entirely," he replied.

Kurenai raised a brow in curiosity at that, not really expecting a positive reply. Then again, neither did anyone else in the room, each of them directing a questioning stare at the prince. Surprisingly enough, it was Shino who voiced what they were all thinking: "Who? And for that matter, what led you to such a confident deduction?"

For a few seconds, the blonde merely stared at his usually silent teammate, the frown on his face softening just the slightest bit. He shook his head and gave a short huff. "Regarding the 'what', first of all, I'm pretty sure that the bird that we saw earlier was a Rukh(3), a rare breed of netherworld beasts. Suffice to say, having something like that on your side pretty much means that they have a lot of connections. Second: Zabuza described his employer as a 'white bat', and there are only a few people I know who could possibly fit into both those categories."

"And that would be…?" Kurenai pressed on.

"Her name is Garnette," Naruto replied, his expression clearly telling them just how much he wished he was wrong. "She's the eldest daughter of one of my grandfather's old friends. 238 years old, but looks no older than fourteen. Pinkish white hair, blunt black horns, short, heart tipped tail. Usually wears a dress shirt, blazer and skirt combo. Good with magic. Annoying to the core…" he paused to sigh, "and worst of all, she seems to convinced that me and my cousin are her 'rivals'."

Everyone in the room could only give him an odd stare. Then Inari said the last words he wanted to hear: "That sounds just like the girl that helped me and Kaa-san earlier when Gato's men tried to take her away."

-X-

At the borders of Nami no kuni…

"Ugh…" a distorted groan reverberated through an otherwise silent part of swamps at the edge of Nami. The origin of the sound slowly began to stand, opening his eyes to find himself standing on one of the small islands that dotted the Nami no kuni's marshes. With him were a giant white bird, and four other people, all female. One he was very familiar with, looking at him worriedly. Another was a bit less familiar, although her white hair, horns and extra appendages made her easy enough to identify. She was also giving him a very proud smile.

"Heheheh. So… how do you like your new body, Zabuza-san?" Garnette asked whimsically, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she gave the missing-nin turned Alastor a onceover. "That masterpiece is one of my oldest creations you know? It was originally an experimental attempt to integrate more advanced technology into the original Frankenstein's monster creation procedure. The 'bringing it to life' part may not have worked due to the large amount of weaponized circuitry inside of it, but I figured that it was biological enough for a soul to possess and control."

And on and on, the white haired girl continued to ramble about her creation, not even once noticing that her conversation partner had long since tuned her out. Currently, Zabuza was too focused on his new vessel to even hear a single word.

Walking towards the edge of the small landmass, the Alastor gazed into the large pool of water to get a better look at himself. What first greeted him was a head that seemed to have been divided into three. The upper right looked more or less normal, and just less paler than his original skin, with the only noticeable marking being a stitch line that ran down from his eye. It reached all the way to his jaw, which was covered by a cloth face mask. While both features were normal enough, the third part… wasn't. The best way to describe it would have been to say that his entire skull had been turned to steel, and his left eye replaced by some sort of jewel before that section of his skin was completely torn off.

It actually managed to startle the missing nin for a moment, not that he would ever admit it. Sure, he'd already seen it as a sword, but looking at the face of an unmoving body and your own face were completely different matters. Still, he regained his composure quickly and, soon enough, had gone back to his inspection.

The overall build was rather similar to his original body in height, if a bit taller. It was also a little bulkier than he actually was, but not enough that he would really have any problems with it after a while. What intrigued him the most, however, was that the structure was partly metallic.

His left arm below the bicep, everything from the hip down, his chest and right shoulder; all made from jet-black machinery that looked far too complex to have come from anywhere in his world. Yet, Zabuza didn't feel weighed down in the least. He knew the metal was hard, though he didn't know how he knew, but it was extremely light as well. Whether that was due to a quality of the material itself, or simply because the entire body was built to support it, he wasn't certain; but one thing was for sure: his new body was _made_ for combat.

And if the body's structure and metal composition weren't big enough hints, the way it was originally garbed certainly was. His stomach, back and neck were all protected by a deep, crimson armour that somehow managed to still be very flexible, despite feeling similar to steel. It had a large pauldron attached to its left, protecting his flesh shoulder. His other arm was protected by a fingerless gauntlet of the same material, while his palm and fingers were covered in black leather.

"Hey! Are you even listening!"

Garnette's shout shocked the Alastor out of his stupor. Zabuza quickly turned around to face his new employer, only to find himself staring at the livid face of the white-haired demon girl. "Uhh… sorry. I was just… distracted by your invention is all," he admitted truthfully, hoping that it would mollify her. It wouldn't do to anger his source of income and information, after all.

Fortunately, while it didn't seem to get rid of all her agitation, his admittance seem to calm her down. Crossing her arms back over her chest, the white-haired demoness huffed as she turned away. "I suppose that makes sense," she said, more to herself than anyone else, "my inventions _are_ rather amazing after all."

With a prideful nod, the littlest amongst the small group walked back towards the two unknowns that had come with her, just as Haku made her way to her master's side. Once Garnette reached her destination, she spun around to face them, giving the two rogue ninja a pleasant grin.

"I believe some introductions are in order," she said, her grin never leaving her visage. "Now, all three of us already know who you two are, so to get things rolling, I'll start. My name is Garnette Maritsu, and these two," she said, pointing to the two taller girls beside her, "are my younger sisters. Girls, introduce yourselves."

"Hai, Onee-sama," the two chorused, bowing slightly in respect. As they stood back to full height, the tallest of the three –a girl garbed in clothes resembling a Miko's robes– took a step towards the two nuke-nin, a cheerful smile gracing her alabaster skin. "My name is Lapis Maritsu. The youngest sister."

The miko-esque girl bowed once more, though shallower than before, and backtracked to her original position. At the same time, the third girl, who was dressed in traditional ninja clothes, mimicked her sister's earlier actions, stepping up to Zabuza and Haku before bowing herself. "I am Amber Maritsu. The middle sister. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Both nuke-nin stared at the unfamiliar procedure blankly. Being criminals, it was rare for any of them to be greeted in this manner. Still, they had to admit, it certainly felt better than how most of their other clients acted.

"Alright, now that all the needed intros done with, let's move on to something a little more important," Garnette announced cheerily before pointing towards Zabuza. "I've already told you what your job is, so I highly doubt you'd need much instructions. However, as the eldest daughter of one of the multiverse's most powerful Overlords, I simply cannot allow you to guide us through this world while you are still as weak as you are. As such we'll be going to our Netherworld to train you."

She talked fast. Faster than either Zabuza or Haku could follow. As such, neither of them were really sure about most of what she said. They were just about to ask her to repeat herself slowly, but by that time, the white haired demoness had already brought her sceptre high; an array of geometric patterns and runes appearing at the base of her feet.

"To Jaaku Gakuen(4)!" she shouted enthusiastically, plunging the bottom of her staff into the ground beneath them. In a bright flash of light that reached all the way into the sky, the entire island and all its occupants were gone from sight.

-X-

Ahh… finally done. Sorry for the long wait, but again, I've been busy with a lot of issues. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Make sure to review and tell me what you all think.

(1) Ankokukai no me: Eye of the Dark World. Other information will be covered later on.

(2) Gunshin: Army god. Akumei Motoko's rank and title as the leader of the ten generals, and the most powerful demon in Naruto's home Netherworld, outside of the royal family. The only one amongst the generals to not possess sho(general) in their title.

(3) Rukh: A mythological bird from Arabic lore. Said to be a gigantic, pure white, eagle-esque bird that could grow to the size of a ship. The one Garnette has is a chick.

(4) Jaaku Gakuen: Evil Academy. For those who still don't know what connections Garnette has, this refers to Maritsu Evil Academy.


End file.
